


Dreamers' Song

by Milana16



Series: Fang, Fist, Song series [4]
Category: TsukiPro the Animation
Genre: (Tsukiuta cast get minor appearances), Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Vampire Hunters, Alternate Universe - superpowers related to music that make very little sense, Drama, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I hope you can read it as a stand alone, I'm sure I missed something so, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, but for backstories you gotta go for other stories in the series, god tagging that is a struggle, in general a bit of everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 157,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26500690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milana16/pseuds/Milana16
Summary: The end of the world, monsters whose only goal seems to be erasing sane part of human and vampire races, illness that changes them into said monsters.Composers and Singers joining forces to offer a Song, the only thing capable of not only destroying the monsters, but also pacifying the souls of those who lost to Black Despair.People unaware of the danger egotism brings in their situation, yearning only the power and control those having Songs at their disposal posess.General Tsukino knew, from his experiences after creating the Tsukiuta project, that having Singers under his command causes jealousy to spike in other people of power, and aggression in monsters they were fighting against.Creating four more Units with Composers, the banes of existence to Puppetmasters AND people of power in shelters, seems like madness.That's probably why he is the one doing it.
Relationships: Arihara Morihito/Kagurazaka Soushi/Oohara Sora, Etou Kouki/Fujimura Mamoru, Horimiya Eichi & Izumi Shuu & Kuga Ichiru & Kuga Issei, Horimiya Eichi/Izumi Shuu, Munakata Ren/Nanase Nozomu, Murase Dai/Okui Tsubasa, Murase Dai/Okui Tsubasa/Sera Rikka/Takamura Shiki, Murase Dai/Sera Rikka, Murase Dai/Takamura Shiki, Okui Tsubasa/Sera Rikka, Okui Tsubasa/Takamura Shiki, Sakuraba Ryouta/Yaegashi Kensuke, Sera Rikka/Takamura Shiki
Series: Fang, Fist, Song series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653481
Comments: 53
Kudos: 26





	1. Tsukino Uta

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> INSTALLMENT NUMBER FOUR OHMYGOD I'M TOO EXCITED FOR THAT.  
> For those entering this world for the first time, welcome! It might seem a bit muddled at first, as I try not to repeat too many informations from the previous installments, but as the story progresses, you should get a grasp of the worldbuilding here! (or, if you have a lot of time, you can go and read rest of the series. By a lot, I mean A LOT, though).  
> For those sticking from previous stories, heyyyy, guess who decided to get the story involving all three units that got their backstories in this au published? Although... somewhere along third or fourth chapter, be on a lookout for the start of Quell creation story, as well!
> 
> Now, after that horrendously long intro, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Yes, I cheated the chapter title by having Tsukiuta song be it, but also, this was such a good pun regarding what's going on in this chapter I couldn't stop myself)

‘Marionettes’ attack in Hokkaido region was powerful-’

‘Osaka got another Puppetmaster-’

‘Our researchers are still in a bind about the sun spell glyph-’

‘We have less than one tenth of Field Support we should have-’

Rikka slips between vampires and hunters gathered in the Town Hall, looking around, searching, but he stops when call of his name reaches his ears.

‘Sera-san!’

‘You are... Growth, right?’ he says, watching the four in green uniforms, boy with darkest hair waving to him cheerfully. He approaches. ‘You’re with your domain’s forces?’

‘Yes, for now.’ the blonde - _”Etou Kouki”_ Shiki automatically fills him in in his mind - says, bowing his head politely. Rikka returns the greeting. ‘We’re going to join Tsukino side moments before the start of Briefing.’

Briefing, or ceremony of Thanks, was a monthly open gathering of the forces protecting remains of sane world from the invasion of Marionettes, their Puppetmasters, and plague of Black Despair. As with all gatherings that happened regularly, it was rare to see all forces in one place, most organizations having blanks in places where dispatched teams were supposed to stand, or deciding to just send a representative.

As for all things done for morale though, it was required that Unit will participate with at least one of those in a year. With Tsukino forming new force, it was decided that Solids, as well as two new Field Support Units selected in the recruitment process will participate in closest one, resulting in their current situation. Because most - well, all of, but it was officially a secret - Growth belonged also to Etou domain Support forces, their leader had to pay attention to both sides, the affiliated and unaffiliated one, at least until Etou’s head or his representative won’t get to the hall. Rikka felt for the young man standing in front of him, being put in the role of the double leader at such a young age, but. That was the world they lived in.

‘Alright.’ he smiles supportively at the people in front of him. ‘Do you think that Soara will be with you? I’ll have to keep place for you.’

‘Thank you. I think they should be here any moment now-’ Kouki looks questioningly at the vampire behind him. Burgundy eyes scan the crowd, then flash once, as their owner smiles and nods. Kouki returns the expression. ‘Yes, they’re here; once we meet up, we will go to your place?’

‘Alright.’ Rikka smiles. ‘Follow the lilies. Now, I’m sorry but I need to drag Shiki out of his Composer mode before he burns somebody for interrupting him.’

‘Are Solids not together yet?’ Hunter to Kouki’s right, the one with red eyes - right, he’s Sakuraba - asks, and Rikka shakes his head.

‘Dai and Tsubasa will join just before the start, or in the middle of it, they got a job from Okui’s side.’ he explains shortly, before looking behind his shoulder as he senses the pull. ‘Sorry, I gotta go, Shiki needs something. I’ll keep place for you.’

‘Thank you very much.’ repeats Kouki, once again bowing shortly and Rikka smiles - Solids was actually formed earlier than those Units, plus the usual Field relationship made Field Support like Growth and Field Battle Unit like Solids connect only during a mission. That, too, was different in Tsukino, where everybody was supposed to meet and know anybody, making it one heck of a relationship labirynth, none the less making it also much harder to infiltrate.

Rikka ponders on all of it while making his way towards where a not-so-subtle empty space was left around a purple haired vampire, mumbling to himself as he jots something down on the notes held with his left hand. Rikka unceremoniously comes to him and leans over his shoulder.

‘Close to finishing?’ he asks, looking at the maze of score, exclamation marks and other side notes surrounding it.

From just one look, Rikka knows it’s a Solo, and it’s not his.

‘I would have already finished it, if the melody wasn’t as goddamn fickle as the Singer is.’ Shiki growls, eyes not leaving the page he works on, and Rikka 'oh's.

‘But your works with Tsubasa always are great in the end.’ he says, leaning on his Changer a bit more heavily, decades of cohabitation - and well, his status of a being dependant on Shiki - making the gesture be as comforting as it was demanding. ‘So, take a break? At least for the duration of the Briefing.’

‘I will, after I finish this phrase.’ Not letting Rikka react beyond a deep sigh, Shiki continues. ‘I’ll be done in time for the start, so you should reserve the place as you’ve said you’d do.’

‘Alright.’ Rikka sighs again, fully aware that in this state, Shiki won’t budge much beyond the compromise offered, and opts for separating from his Changer. He does need to mark space for the rest of Tsukipro forces after all, SolidS representatives being the first to actually arrive to the venue.

He takes his time, forming tiny fire flowers, his power taking form of light mostly, but retaining just enough heat to keep people from accidentially stepping on them; well, most would instinctively avoid them, energy marking was pretty normal occurence during Briefings. Rikka makes sure to mark just enough for every Unit he knows will appear.

Four clovers for Growth that would come this way any moment, following the track of tiny light flowers Rikka created from the place he talked with them.

Five cosmoses for Soara, Unit still polishing their coordination, skills... well, anything but their friendship.

Two flowers just behind Shiki’s position, those a bit brighter so that Tsubasa can locate them even in the middle of the ceremony.

He hesitates a bit with the next one, and Shiki answers his unasked question.

_„Shu’s in Osaka, working with his Group on that new Puppetmaster’s case. I doubt he’ll show up.”_

_„Okay.”_

So, Rikka skips on marking the space to SolidS right, for the unnamed Shield Unit Shu has yet to form, and instead moves on to forming twenty four moon flowers for the first mixed Units of Tsukino, Fluna, Seleas, Six Gravity and Procellarum.

‘Precise as always, Rikka.’

He turns and bows his head to the man approaching him.

‘General Tsukino.’ dhampire nods back to him, then looks at his work.

‘I’m sorry for wasting your energy, but Procella won’t make it back, either.’ the man has half-amused and half-exasperated smile on his face. ‘Shun ended up wandering away from the rest, and into minor Marionettes' nest, so they got held up clearing them out.’

‘Is everyone alright?’ Rikka asks worriedly, but Tsukino waves his hand.

‘Procella is one of our top Units specifically because of how many times they had to deal with their leader triggering such surprises for them. Plus, for all his lightheartedness, Shun never brought anything beyond their capability onto them.’

‘I... see?’ Rikka asks, puzzled. Despite having already few missions under Tsukino under their belts, Solids had yet to meet all other Field Units. With Procella and Gravi, as well as Fluna and Seleas, having the status of Special Units, larger than Support and Battle ones, and also trained in multiple skills, it was no wonder they were send out whenever there were lack of people. Which recently seemed to be all the time. In a way, Rikka felt sorry for them, erasing six of the flowers.

Although sometimes he found dealing with Marionettes easier than dealing with humans.

He sees Kouki forcing a smile to stay on his face as yet another hunter calls out to him, completely ignoring his team. He sees the way Soara’s hunter and High vampire take turn in pushing through the crowd unwilling to let these youngsters pass.

He sees the way all heads turn when Six Gravity enters the room.

The way people look when Fluna and Seleas walk in after their male counterpart. He lets his flowers shine just slightly brighter, but all three groups had sensors. They would instantly notice it even if he did nothing.

That, they do, and while they’re at it, Six Gravity casually scoops both Growth and Soara inbetween themselves, as if those weren’t completely new Units. Rikka cannot help but smile.

They were going to have good senpais.

‘Sera-san.’ The bright haired vampire in glasses approaches him, and Rikka remembers that he’s actually the vice of Gravi, responsible for direct observation and control (well, that part as always got screwed somewhere along the way, ending up being friendship, though) of the Mutsuki heir, Mutsuki Hajime, also known as the leader of the Six Gravity. Yayoi clan, was it?

‘Haru-san.’ he returns. ‘Glad you could make it.’

‘Because Procella won’t, you intended to say.’ Haru smiles wryly. ‘Thank you for reserving our places.’

‘It was nothing.’ Rikka says, easily erasing the flowers as the people for which they were created took their place. Hajime, who until then seemed to assist his cousin and Fluna leader, quirks an eyebrow at the remaining two flowers near Shiki. Who was still muttering to himself, making Rikka mentally grit his teeth.

_„I’m almost finished. I swear.”_

‘Tsubasa and Dai?’

‘Okui mission.’ Rikka explains to the hunter. ‘They should be back any moment, though. Hopefully without too much fanfare.’

‘An Okui?’ Hajime looks sceptical and Rikka smiles, remembering Yuri.

‘Some of them were capable of that.’

It’s at that moment General Tsukino comes out in front of them, and all other forces seem to shift into their designated positions as well. With a nod, Hajime leaves Rikka to manage his Unit, and vampire returns to his Changer’s side. Who only now hides the sheets.

‘You seriously need to learn to manage that inspiration of yours.’ Rikka sighs, and Shiki grumbles, but doesn’t protest. Two flowers twinkle behind them.

They line up behind their General on the right of the chamber while all family and clans’ forces take spots on the left, all eyes turned to the northern wall of the room, where small stage was erected.

The officials walking on it had no power over the fighting forces, in theory. As shelter officials, they managed public affairs, cooperated with Groups and Support families on distribution of foods and other necessities, and managed reports on the damages done to the outside infrastructure like railroads. They were responsible for keeping hand on the pulse of the cities, their moods and needs, and act accordingly. With this last responsibility, they had to cooperate with fighting forces - keeping morale high demanded proving safety, and in what other way could they show it than through monthly gatherings of their forces?

Even if said forces ruled themselves with completely separate politics, or even if with every month they showed blanks, or injuries they sustained in constant fights against the humans' and vampires’ common enemy.

But, that didn’t matter, what mattered was that those forces were, right? And their picture was broadcasted through the glyph messengers through the whole country, people and vampires alike getting to know their protectors - supposedly. There were more and more voices calling this empty propaganda, though.

Rikka wasn’t sure those people were really wrong. Not when the official who came onto stage and started a gratitude speech to the forces spoke of success and fortune, and unity and victory, when Rikka knew for a fact the inner politics of High clans and families were slowly taking over the selection processes in more than one institution, and jealousy spiked high between separate forces.

Following the first official is the next and then head of the People’s Court, then Vampire council’s leader (who doesn’t stop himself from jabbing at the Unit of the Seven, looking weirdly proud of it every time he looked in Shiki’s direction). Then finally, _finally_ , officers from the actual forces are allowed to take stage, but even then, the pettiness doesn’t end. Rikka gets tired after fifth or sixth speaker and reacts with relief at each and every general resigning from their voice. So, there were people not willing to take part in this farce outside of Tsukino still...

And then, it’s General Tsukino’s turn to go there.

‘With this month, we’ve lost three Units unrelated to families.’ he starts, and slight hum dies down, as everybody realizes there will be no more doublespeak or covered jabs or any of the petty politics all of the previous speakers used to some degree. ‘Next seven are severly injured and incapable of returning to the Field. Even more doesn’t possess adequate follow up in form of Field Support Unit to cooperate with. And yet, we speak of victory.’

He looks over the whole room, then softens his voice.

‘What Unit of the Seven did was never meant to erase the threat, but to buy us time to prepare for the battle on our terms. I believe the time we’ve been given is wearing out, and our preparations are still way too slow in comparison. Just few weeks ago, we had to deal with Puppetmasters just at the outskirts of one of the Spine's shelters, and if not for the Etou forces reaction, we'd be dealing with them storming our barriers. A bit earlier, somebody decided stirring western nest, the only one with still working protection, was a good idea, resulting in near death of the Heir of certain very active High family.'

Rikka catches Kouki shift next to them, and stifles his smile. Solids were involved in both cases mentioned, but the one that warranted Etous' reaction was mostly caused by the young leader of Growth finally having anough and taking matters into his hands, or so Rikka has heard. General continues.

'The enemy is growing, and we do not follow their example, never mention leading the race.’ he looks over his audience, at the glyph messengers broadcasting his features to the rest of the country, and takes a deep breath. ‘That’s why, I’m borrowing this stage to inform you; Tsukino Special Units, Seleas and Fluna, will no longer answer to your distress calls.’

He raises his hand, as protest raise from the hall, because, _didn't he just said they've shortage of hands?!_ Simultaneously, both named Units move forward, onto stage, and behind the General.

‘I am aware they are the top of active Units. I’m proud of them. And that’s specifically why I think they will be able to temporarily block the northern and southern nests. Kurisu and Matsuri worked out the plans that have the highest chance of success out of any of our current tries, and least casuality chances.’ General looks in Solids' direction, and Rikka becomes aware of the presence behind his back. ‘With the protection Fire Lily left on the west, we should be able to use the time they buy us to regroup, perhaps even focus our remaining forces on eliminating the eastern nest. One is for sure, we cannot leave the situation as it is. The Song of the Seven was a one-time solution, and we’re not getting second chance like that.’

Rikka doesn’t really focus on what is said after that, he’s busy digging through the satchel on his hip in search of- there they were.

‘Welcome back, Dai, Tsubasa.’ he whispers, offering two men what he pulled out of his bag. ‘Here, wet towels.’

‘You’re lifesaver, Rikka.’ Tsubasa smiles through the sheet of grime of fight and travel.

‘You're crazy prepared as always.’ Dai notes, as he too, accepts the towel.

‘I had a hunch you’ll come straight from the Field.’ Rikka chuckles softly.

‘We’re back, Darling!’ Tsubasa chirps, hanging himself from behind on Shiki.

‘You’re sweaty.’ Shiki corrects, shrugging the hunter off. ‘Hurt anywhere?’

Rikka inhales discreetly. Ah, indeed, the tinge of steel in the air is present. He turns worried eyes on Dai, who quickly shakes his head.

‘It’s not ours.’ Tsubasa explains easily enough. ‘Today’s was support of another hunter group. They got hurt people before we got there, so we had to perform first aid. Will tell more after Briefing.’

‘Right.’ Shiki sounds pleased with the explanation, and Rikka catches twitch of his fingers. He stifles a sigh.

Now, that Tsubasa was near, Shiki’s Composer sense must’ve gotten into overdrive...

Too bad they don’t have time to let him hide away and finish the Song he probably has hammering in his head right now.

‘We do not plan on leaving blanks.’ Tsukino raises both of his hands now, to quieten the hall. ‘Tsukino organization is going to release four new Field Units, with three of them already formed and preparing to take to the Field.’ his eyes stray to Solids again. ‘In one case, one of them are freshly back from it, even.’

‘Only partially though.’ dryly points out Shiki, even as his Changer gives up his position to let Tsubasa stand at their leader’s right, with Rikka taking his place next to Dai, ignoring sudden pressure, as part of the hall's focus turn onto them.

‘You mean that the result of this giant audition screening you’ve made for the last three months are only three Units?’ Sneers the headmaster of Sun Academy. Rikka catches an annoyed hiss, cut off by the short 'Ryo'.

‘Two, actually.’ Tsukino replies calmly. ‘Which is still a better outcome than what your Academy releases after whole year of preparations.’

The man stutters, Rikka hears double satisfied snorts from his left - right, weren't Growth students of the Sun Academy? - but then there’s another question from the hall.

‘You’ve said something about four Units, though?’

‘And that is the plan.’ Tsukino nods. ‘However, as I intend to dedicate those Units to fighting outside threats like Puppetmasters and Marionettes, rather than using them for power struggles within the shelters...’

He pointedly looks over certain generals and High families. Rikka can hear a low whistle from the youngest pair in Six Gravity.

‘Burned...’ blond - right, he’s from Shiwasu family, Shiwasu Kakeru - mutters, and Rikka smirks. Meanwhile, General continues.

‘...I’d also like them to be properly equipped for the task. As such, all four Units are going to be Singers. With Field Support Units of Alive, they were selected in the process of audition screening, as headmaster Hirari was so nice to explain.’ he nods in direction of Growth and Soara. ‘Their experiences on Field vary, but I can assure you their Composers and Songs are of highest quality, we've checked it and all other Composers under Tsukino agree with me. As for Field Battle Units under SQ, I decided to leave their creation to their Composers. Judging from the results that Solids, Sword Unit, produces, I’m sure nobody will find anything against their counterpart, once its’ Composer finally forms it.’

‘He still didn’t choose-’

‘We don’t choose, we _look for_ our Singers.’ Shiki speaks up over the voice from the hall. ‘In Shu’s case, have been searching for for over sixty years, though it seems he’s had a break through recently.’

‘Just what is this supposed to-’

‘Composers see the very thing Marionettes want from living, and thing that Puppetmasters destroy before changing human into their tool.’ Tsubasa joins into the fray, explanation as easy as his smile, years upon years of his own clan's researches and experiences backing him up. Oh, and his once-in-a-century Sight talent, but that was better left unmentioned. ‘It’s not something you can train, though you might need training to access it properly. And if Composer says your Song is incompatible with them, you’re not getting anywhere. Darling means just this.’

‘You mean there’s a vampire, I presume High, since we're not letting lessers do something as responsible-'

'Stinking elitist.' mutters someone from Soara, and Rikka agrees completely.

'- as creating our defenses, struggling to find allies, all because of compatibility of something as imagined as a S-’

‘Imagined?!’ Shiki raises his voice incredulously, looking for the speaker across the hall, but he is not the only one, there’s a fair number of hisses and sharp inhales - number coming from Tsukino’s camp, and related families. ‘Are we even fighting the same war anymore?!’

‘Shiki.’ Rikka reaches out and puts hand on his Changer’s arm. He raises his voice, to be heard over few displeased voices, cutting them off in the process. ‘Not everybody here lived fifty, or even thirty years ago.’

‘And even if they did, your kind is pretty much half extinct.’ adds Tsubasa. ‘You know, Seers wouldn’t be born if we didn’t have deficit of Composers.’

‘Don’t tell me all of Tsukino believes-’

‘We all have been saved by Songs, multiple times, in fact, Asachi-dono.’ Yuki, until now scanning the floor from behind Tsukino’s shoulder, finally speaks up, giving the voice a name to go with, and Rikka winces. Asachi were an old family with traditional views, to whom chants were already a blasphemy, and Songs were... well, it seemed an imagined fable. ‘We absolutely have no reason to find it imagined, considering we all have experienced it firsthand.’

‘Then tell me, o mighty Hanazono, what this famed Songs do? Produce explosions? Purify infections? Find Puppetmasters? Get lost children back to their parrents?’ jeers Asachi, but her answer comes from the burgundy haired vampire, standing just behind the Etou’s heir.

‘All of it.’ he speaks up softly. ‘And even more. As long as Singer and Composer are in sync, nothing is impossible. Though that power comes at price.’

Something in the air of the vampire, and the grace of surrounding him hunters - though that wasn't a fitting title for Support specialists, but oh well - from the same team made the hall unable to jeer and laugh at him.

‘Seeing is believing though.’ speaks somebody from the hall eventually, and Tsukino sighs, motioning for Seleas and Fluna to join other forces.

‘Why did I felt it will end that way...’ he mutters, but people just under the stage catch it anyway.

‘Well, you can’t expect us to believe a word of few random vampires you’ve pulled out of the-’

‘Solids don’t mind, General.’ Tsubasa speaks up, over the hunter - or was it a vampire? Rikka couldn't clearly see the last speaker, though he suspected it's the former - before turning back. ‘You can go, right? Dai-chan, Rikka?’

‘Don’t call me that.’

‘It’s you who are back from the mission, Tsubasa.’ Rikka returns worriedly. Tsubasa grins at him.

‘Well, funny thing, but I already have certain tune running in circles in my head, thanks to the guy on the left, so I kind of don’t care if we do a presentation or not, I’m already stuck in this hell with Darling here.’

‘If you weren’t making your Song this flimsy, it’d be finished by now, Honey.’ Shiki pulls out a score sheet and Tsubasa’s eyes glint. Vampire waves the sheets in the air ‘It’s in fine tuning stages anyway.’

'Don't start on it now.' Dai and Rikka chorus as one, then look at each other, as their leader and High hunter snort in front of them.

‘General.’ Hajime speaks up, and his aura spreads like the waves over everyone in the hall. ‘I believe it is a good idea. Special Units haven’t had the chance to see the work split between new Support and Battle Units just yet, since most of us were absent for the second and third stage of auditions. It might be a good experience, also for future generations of potential cadets.’

‘I see.’ Tsukino nods, and looks questioningly at the councilmen standing at the side of the stage. Surprisingly, they look excited at the prospect of showing off. General sighs inwardly. ‘Then, Asachi-san, if you might choose a team of... ten, let’s say, to assist you in a _friendly_ spar against our newly formed Battle and Support Units. I think it will be the closest to even I can go without fearing for your lives.'

'We won't murder anybody.' Shiki and Tsubasa chorus, but Tsukino ignores them pointedly, turning to the Alive Units.

'Which of the Support Units-’

‘If I might suggest, Soara.’ Shiki speaks up, teenagers startling at the nomination. Vampire turns to where Support Units stand. ‘I’m curious about sound of both Units, but I feel like Growth’s will be similar to what I hear from Shu. Meanwhile Soara sound is... interesting.’

‘Oi, don’t be a creep, just say wind feeds fire.’ Tsubasa interrupts his leader, before playfully bowing to the younger Units. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘And that since Growth has more experience on Field, you want them to partner up with Shu’s Unit, so that your brother figure has a proper Support behind his back.’ Rikka adds much quieter, but still loud enough for Growth to hear that. Their leader bows his head in quiet thanks, before looking questioningly at General. Getting his approval, he shows one sign, causing his whole Unit withdrawing from between Soara and Solids.

‘Good luck, Sora, everyone.’ he says with a small smile to his obviously nervous counterpart.

‘T-thanks, Kou-kun.’ stutters out the shortest teenager of Soara, and only now does Rikka realize who they’re going to work with. Children, more or less. Again.

‘Rikka~’ the sing-song tone is the only warning before he has a Tsubasa hugging him from behind, chin on his shoulder. ‘You know most of this room is younger than you, so there’s no point dwelling on our ages.’

‘Don’t make me feel old.’ Rikka laughs, leaning just a bit on the hunter behind him, playfully. ‘And let me worry a bit, since you never let me worry about you.’

‘I’m still not forgiven for the-'

‘Nope.’ Rikka gently pats his nose. It was still hard to measure distance each member of Solids needed to feel comfortable, but with them honestly approaching each other, it seemed that distance was firmly shrinking, Tsubasa's lack of concept of personal space a great factor to that. Rikka definitely didn't mind, but. ‘Now, off you go, we gotta translate Shiki, before Soara lose their trust in us being allies.’

‘Right.’ Tsubasa groans. They move to where Shiki in snappy voice informs Sora of his own plans; much to their and Soara’s shock, human boy is doing great in communicating with the vampire Composer, their gestures similarly energetic and snappy. Explanation is in the eyes of both leaders, swimming in shapes only them could see. You don't have time to be shy with your own kin, was a common rule for Composers, it seemed. Or, at least to Sora and Shiki.

While they meet their new allies, the room gets adjusted to an impromptu show. The stage is lowered to the ground level, and there’s quite a wide square marked in the middle of the hall, its' borders marked by multiple signs intent on preventing the power released inside of it from leaking, while letting people and vampires alike be pushed out. There are also multiple glyph messengers, set on broadcasting the whole thing, already surrounding it. General Tsukino looks at the borders with a frown, before turning to one of the masters creating them.

‘Can’t you make them thicker?’

‘There’s no need, sir, they should hold out. They’re probably the strongest set in our arsenal.’ the master politely replies, but Tsukino continues frowning, so he relents. 'We will put absorbtion glyphs just inside of it, if you're worried.'

Tsukino nods his thanks, before turning to his teams.

‘Alright, boys.’ he calls, and two Composers surrounded by their Singers freeze. Apparently forgetting at least two of them are older than Tsukino, but well. ‘Since it’s supposed to be friendly presentation, I’m setting a handicap. Only one of the Unit at a time can use their Songs, and the other restrains their power during that. I don’t want any kills, Shiki.’ he pointedly looks at the oldest vampire, who just sighs.

‘But we’re not responsible for any injuries we may inflict. Not deadly ones, obviously.’ Tsubasa says, and Tsukino has a weird feeling Shiki is perking up at his center’s words.

‘Of course, but try not to inflict them. We _do_ have deficit of active Units.’ he stresses, before leaving them to work out the rules to their showdown with the councilmen and representative of opposing party.

‘I guess it isn’t that bad?’ Rikka says, his head tilted slightly. ‘That way you will get to know each others' Songs, like you’ve hoped.’

‘Right, but Soara might be in a slightly sticky position once they run out of steam, like during the last stage test.’ replies Shiki, eyes jumping from one Singer to the other. ‘Though the potential for growth is giant there.’

‘I know, right?!’

‘If we do end up running out of steam, we will try not to get into your way too much, at least.’ Soushi interrupts Sora’s excited exclamation. ‘That much, we should be able to do. We did get to train after getting selected, after all.’

‘That depends on type of the challenge format, though.’ Dai speaks up, observing with corner of his eye as Tsukino frowns and shakes his head strongly at the propositions thrown at him. ‘We might want to presume they will be against our specialities. Or, against who they think is the most powerful in every group.’

‘That will most definitely be Shiki and Tsubasa for us.’ Rikka looks on at the slowly crystallizing opposition. ‘They are all humans, so I doubt they know about me, and from what I’ve heard, Dai is perceived as extension to Tsubasa’s body.’

‘The worst main body possible.’ breathes Dai, before focusing on the Soara’s information.

‘Considering the spread of attention we got ever since starting Soara, I’d say they will focus on Mori, then me, then Nozomu.’ Soushi says slowly. ‘Though there’s also a possibility they will try to get to us by the weakest part of the chain, in that case, it’s Sora, Ren, and then us.’

‘Why I’m the first?!’

‘Because you are human, have close to zero Field or Backstage training and if they don’t believe into Songs' potential, also stand out like an useless sore thumb.’ instantly replies Soushi, and Sora whines. Morihito moves inbetween childhood friends.

‘Soushi did say it’s only applicable if we exclude Songs, Sora. With Songs, we might as well put you at the forefront.’

‘That’s true.’ Shiki nods, bringing everybody’s attention to himself. ‘Our opponents will not take into consideration your Sounds, because they don’t believe they even exist or have any meaning.’

His face twisted, as if just saying it caused him physical pain. Rikka bumps his shoulder gently.

‘That’s why we’re going to prove them otherwise, right?’ Shiki looks at his first Singer.

‘Right.’ he turns back to Soara. ‘I don’t think you have to be careful with what you’re bringing out, we’ll work with any Song you throw at us. We will need a sign for when you want to back away, though.’

‘Ren?’ Soushi turns questioning eyes at the younger vampire, who stutters, before taking deep breath and closing his eyes.

Rikka can feel a brush of the wind against his mind. It’s enough to catch his attention, but not to seriously disturb him.

‘If I do this, will it be enough?’

‘I won’t feel it, not during battle.’ Shiki says, Tsubasa nodding besides him. Ren flushes.

‘I think I’ll be able to pick it up.’ Dai says slowly, then looks at Rikka. ‘You felt it too?’

‘Yeah.’ Rikka turns to the younger vampire. ‘Focus on picking my or Dai’s attention. We can pass the information forward. Afterwards-’

Dai rases his fist and stretches all fingers simultaneously three times. Soushi 'oh's.

'"Free to go" sign. Got it.' he nods, and Rikka shuffles.

'You'll be okay with me using it?' he asks, and Dai looks at him.

'Wh- right. You are a vampire. But, one sign won't hurt us, I think.' Dai looks at the younger vampires. 'You guys caught it too?'

Ren nods, hiding behind Soushi.

‘I’m sorry I can't be of more help.’

‘Don’t be.’ Rikka smiles. ‘Perhaps it’s better that your first task is to work with us on a simple presentation, we can figure out what we need to work on.’

‘Sera-san, your first task wasn’t that easy?’ Morihito asks, then rapidly adds. ‘If you don’t mind telling us, obviously.’

‘Just Rikka is enough.’ Rikka waves his hand at the other vampire. Then his expression turns wistful. ‘My first task... I guess you can’t say it was mine, Shiki fought that part, using my body.’

‘E-excuse me?’

‘I’m Shiki’s Changed.’ Rikka quickly says, and noticing further confusion, explains. ‘I got Changed into a vampire by him. That means we have a peculiar bond that can be utilized in many different ways. At the time I didn’t have too much fighting experience and wasn’t in too much of a learning condition, so Shiki took over for me. We were subjugating Wanderers.’

They all shift in place. Even though the legend of Wanderers' acts died down with time, especially since after war, the worst of their kind got exiled, they were still known as beings causing most trouble.

‘You still managed to break out your first Solo, though.’ Shiki points out, scores in hands, now that the most important things were settled. ‘Speaking of which, Tsubasa, take a look.’

‘Would it hurt you not to Compose on a tactical meeting before a presentation duel?!’ Tsubasa looks at his Composer baffled, before his eyes catch the notes, and his hands move quicker than the light. ‘Geez, messy as always.’

Seconds later, his cheek flashes. Tsubasa wipes glyph off of his skin backhandedly, before pointing to the bottom line.

‘Here, wouldn’t higher be better?’ Shiki comes and reads pointed place from above Tsubasa’s shoulder.

‘Think you can go even higher than that?’

Tsubasa scowls, ignoring slightly baffled expressions of Soara. Rikka smiles apologetically at their teammates, Dai pointedly looks away, as if pretending not to see that his partner is leaning on a High vampire, discussing his Composition with all the carefree air in the world.

‘Don’t test me, Darling.’

‘I don’t, Honey. It’s already high for your range.’

‘But the lead-up clearly points to higher sound here, listen.’ then, before anybody can stop him, Tsubasa gives voice to the part of the Song, glyph once again appearing on his cheek. Wiping it off again, he asks. ‘See?’

‘I still don’t feel good giving you higher tone than your registry, but maybe we can extend it-’

‘Excuse me, but- what the hell?’ Soushi asks, preemptively covering Ren’s ears. Dai sighs heavily.

‘I am so sorry for them.’

‘It’s the norm when Song is near its’ finishing stages.’ Rikka comes to place comforting hand on the tall hunter’s shoulder. ‘Better than the binge and collapse from before Shiki has met Tsubasa, although sometimes it’s binge and collapse for _both_ of them.’

‘No, I know, I had to drag Sora out of it more than once, but- why is Okui-’

‘Ah.’ Rikka looks questioningly at Dai, who shrugs.

‘He’s been like that for forever. He cannot Compose himself, but he can definitely see the Song and differences from it in composed version. I was told Seers are more or less the same, although Tsubasa apparently sees even more than them.’ hunter explains brisquely, before catching movement from the corner of his eye. ‘Seems like they’ve decided on the challenge.’

Everyone’s focus shifted to their General, approaching them with conflicted expression.

‘We will conduct it as a mutual Marionettes training.’ he answers their unasked question, and Dai hums.

‘Reverse psychology, huh.’

‘Reverse?’

‘We’re Battle Offense Unit.’ Rikka elaborates. ‘Most of our training looks like mutual Marionettes, where you just try to take out your opponent before they take you out. That means they choose a field beneficial to us, maybe slightly disadvantageous to Soara, who was introduced as Support Unit.’

‘It’s possible they want us to hold back too much because we have advantage now.’ Sora says slowly and everybody looks at him. ‘What, I would do that, too.’

Soushi slowly shakes his head.

‘Right, I forgot you have this side to you.’

‘Oi, what’s that supposed to mean?!’

‘That you are probably right.’ Shiki says slowly. Then sighs. ‘Tsubasa?’

‘Agreed.’ Tsubasa returns sheets of music to their Composer. ‘Most likely want us to hold back to kick Soara out before we get our act together.’

‘That means we need to have protection established for you guys.’ Dai turns to the Support Unit, but Soushi shakes his head.

‘After we run out of Songs, maybe, but until then, we’re good.’ he grins. ‘Sora’s Songs give you a nice kick, and are kind of possessive while they’re running.’

‘I know this from somewhere...’ Dai looks to the side.

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Shiki returns, hiding the sheets with a Song that would possibly cause the protective inferno to raise around its’ Singer. ‘Anyway, I don’t think we will need to, but just in case, I want to prioritize health of the members over the results, so, if worst comes to worst, dump us and withdraw.’

‘Agreed.’ Tsubasa says with a grin, turning to the slightly disgruntled Soara. ‘A lot of good things came from me being dumped previously, and this is supposed to be friendly. So, you don’t have to stall, alright?’

‘But we will do so only as a last measure.’ Sora answers with a frown, that smooths soon enough. ‘I want to see Solids' Songs up close!’

Shiki chuckles.

‘Alright, I allow this as a reasonable.’

‘It’s not, though.’ Rikka says dryly, before turning to rest of Soara. ‘Can I trust you to pull-’

‘-Sora away when things get too hot?’ Soushi finishes. ‘Have been doing it since we were six, no problem.’

‘Things will get hot pretty soon though.’ Dai warns. ‘Don’t get surprised, alright.’

‘We’ve seen you at the tests.’ Morihito carefully reminds. ‘We should be able to withstand this much. Beyond that, we will see.’

‘Just don’t stall too much, is what Dai tries to say.’ Rikka gently loops his arm with youngest of Solids. ‘Once Shiki and Tsubasa get going, it’s rather hard to stop them.’

He looks up at the human at his side.

‘Not that we’re much better.’

‘At least we don’t go until we crash.’ Dai returns, making Rikka smile.

‘Speak for yourself, Rikka has already given me a heart attack once by crashing.’ Shiki grumbles softly.

‘I do reflect on that, but it still didn’t excuse burning half of the battlefield.’

‘Wait, the waterfall Inferno during the final battle of the great Human-Vampire war was you?’ Tsubasa turns, and his grin is amazed and amused at the same time. Rikka snorts.

‘Who comes up with those names?’

‘News broadcasters, known previously as bards.’ with straight face answers Tsukino, until now listening quietly to his teams. ‘I'm not going to tell you anything beyond be careful, since you seem to have everything else figured out. Get ready, it seems your opponents are ready too.’

It seemed so. With Briefing etiquette demanding for the forces to be in their uniforms, it was a matter of picking up minor tools and discussing tactics, before the team was ready for dispatch. Solids and Soara are still looked over when they approach the line. Everybody’s stares hang on Dai and Tsubasa’s worn out uniforms.

‘Can’t afford the shower?’ quips one of the lesser hunters, and Soushi measures him with a withering look before Tsubasa even answers.

‘On the Field, the only thing you’ll get showered in is Black Despair. Not pleasant experience, trust me on that, you’re better off not knowing it.’ Tsubasa returns easily. Rikka turns alerted eyes on him.

‘You didn’t-’

‘His left arm. We got light user on the team at the time, so there is no sign of it.’ Dai explains quietly. Then adds. ‘He was defending the lesser.’

The man starting the exchange flushes red, but before they're able to continue the discussion, one of the councilmen appears between them and explains rules all of them know, more or less.

Mutual Marionettes - both sides are supposed to consider the others as very intelligent versions of the monsters they fight outside shelters, and decide on their course of action, the goal either to lose as little people as possible until the time runs out, or to knock out all opponents - if possible - within the same time limit. Their limit is set to sixteen minutes.

‘Three Songs.’ Shiki nods, before turning to Sora. ‘Your limit?’

‘Is around there, but full power will be two.’ Sora answers instantly. Shiki nods.

‘Then, let’s go two-one. Focus on staying alive and don’t try to help us.’

‘He means, prioritize your own safety.’ translates Tsubasa. Mori nods reluctantly.

‘Don’t hold back just because we specialize in different element.’ Sora returns to the other leader, and Shiki pauses, considering, before snorting and ruffling Sora’s hair.

‘Holding back is not happening, not with this team, even for you.’ he reassures his counterpart. ‘So don’t worry about that.’

‘Good.’ Sora nods solemnly, patting his hair down, before turning to his group. ‘Okay guys, huddle!’

‘Solids!’ Shiki calls and Tsubasa ughs.

‘We’re really doing it, don’t we?’

‘Shiki seemed to like it the last time we did it. So, the answer is yes.’ Rikka says, without much fuss approaching his Changer. Human hunters join him moments later.

‘We’ve got the team at our back, which means we can push forward all we want. Just remember that.’ Shiki says, squeezing them together.

‘Any advice on our Song?’ Rikka asks. Shiki looks at him.

‘We’ll decide when we get there.’ Tsubasa snorts. Dai just sighs. Rikka smiles.

‘Of course.’

‘Let’s go!’

‘Alright!’ they break at the same time as Soara does, and take their positions. Tsubasa smirks.

‘Don’t doze off while watching others’ Song, Darling~’

‘Better watch out yourself, Honey.’

It’s at that moment the judge of their impromptu battle signals start of the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> It will probably get updated later than I expect, since I currently fight to have a piece for Ken-kun's birthday ready (shameless plug-in, but it will be related to Apostasy, which I finally decided to split into two chapters, so that you don't have to go over that wall of text all at once anymore), and it will definitely end up being a goddamn chaptered piece (no more 20k one-shots, I swear!), so yeah *sweats* Vampires will land on backburner for a while? I think? Although second chapter is practically ready, needs only a small beta read-through!


	2. Shall we dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished (more or less) both Promessa and third chapter of Dreamers, so, as a reward, I'm allowing myself to post this thing.  
> Once again, happy birthday, Ken-kun, although there's very, very little of you in this chapter...

Solids, like a well oiled machine, spread to intercept all of their opponents, while simultaneously, Soara’s Song starts behind their back, Sora not wasting time either. Rikka chuckles in surprise as his flowers spring to life, easier to call forth than they ever were. Support Songs were pretty good too, he finds himself thinking.

‘Rikka, three.’ Dai’s voice shakes him out of his musings, and he spreads the lilies in the pointed out direction. Hunters, trying to slip between him and Dai, hiss. ‘Thanks.’

‘No problem.’ Rikka checks on Shiki’s position. ‘Watch out to the right, tip can catch you.’

Shiki spreads his arms and lets a very tuned down wave of fire spill from in front of him. The barrier of glyphs keeping their audience safe shudders.

‘Careful, Darling!’ Tsubasa calls from behind back of one of their opponents. When the man turns to him, Okui just pushes lightly at his opponent’s chest, and the hunter stumbles, straight through the barrier, successfully getting knocked out of the game. ‘Don’t kill anybody. One down!’

‘You always have to be first, don’t you.’ mutters Dai and Rikka chuckles gently.

‘He’s good at being it.’

Dai inclines his head to him, simultaneously catching two hands flying at him upfront and, twisting with momentum, throwing his opponents to the side, away from Soara. Speaking of whom, they were quite obviously having fun, if the whole UFO thing in their lyrics were anything to go by. Dai wonders if he should use it.

‘Dai-chan, I can tell what you’re thinking from this far!’ Tsubasa whines from the other side of the field, knocking people right and left, dodging, punching, kicking, vaulting. ‘Just go for it for once!’

‘Easy to say for you!’ Dai knocks two more hunters off their course, and Rikka finishes his work for him by amplifying certain flowers blaze and easing others’, making it impossible for hunters to tumble any other way than outside the barrier. He nods to the vampire, then turns back to where Tsubasa was slowly making his way to Shiki. ‘You don’t destroy your body by overdoing.’

‘If that’s the problem, I can help?’ Rikka offers. ‘Matching seemed to work for you, right?’

Dai inclines his head once more, as slow realization hits him- ever since they started moving as Solids, he did have less accidents with power slipping out of control. And most of the times, he’s had Rikka somewhere near himself.

Shiki hums loudly on the other side of battlefield. In contrast to flame creations of Tsubasa or Rikka, his fire seemed to have the mind of their own, while not maintaining one set shape at any time. This results in them stretching out comfortably, blocking most ways through to Soara not covered by Rikka or Dai, letting Tsubasa play cat and mouse in the middle of the field. Most of the time, with Tsubasa acting as both the mouse and the cat.

‘Go ahead and try it.’ High vampire finally calls out to him. ‘At worst we’ll be picking Tsubasa off the ground.’

‘That’s cruel and untrue! Dai’s my derivative!’ Tsubasa says, dodging a swing aimed at his head and stepping on the one aiming for his ankles. ‘I get the same immunity you have for Rikka.’

‘Why not scream it louder?’ Dai huffs. ‘I’m sure there’s still opponents of ours not hearing it!’

‘It’s not like it’s a secret!’

‘Dai.’ Rikka calls out softly, and he realizes he’s knee deep in lilies. Rikka looks at him patiently. Dai feels his cheeks flush, but Rikka just waits for him to gather himself.

It was a different type of considerate, compared to the ‘pulling you out of the dump against your will’ considerate he's got used to from Tsubasa.

Shaking out of his musings, he nods at Rikka, and lets his fire swell just under his skin. He matches it with the sensation of the fire burning bright on the ground, the fire flowers showing his growth better than any metric could, managing it better than any device invented for support could. Shielding him away from their opponents who noticed him preparing and tried to intercept, better than any barrier could.

He’s definitely glad he’s got Rikka in his team.

Dai raises both hands upwards and releases the heatwave. At first, the colorless stream of hotness just swells in the air. Then, it explodes in a cloud of blue fire, raining onto the field.

‘Dai-chan, nice!’

‘Don’t call me Dai-chan.’ Dai grits out, trying to lower the temperature, to change missiles into less deadly versions of themselves.

Lilies help. They swell, feed off of his heat, lower it, then redirect them away from the already fallen and their allies.

Rikka smiles at him and Dai finds himself unable not to respond in kind.

*

Observing Solids work from up close made Sora shiver with excitement, and just a tad bit of jealousy. The Unit wasn’t formed that much earlier than Soara, and yet, their levels seemed to be so far apart... it made him want to try something out, to try and catch up.

But, if he does, the risk was high... then again, it was just a test competition, not the actual Field battle. If they run out of steam, nobody will get eaten- or, at least he hopes so.

Making his mind up, he turns with a grin to the rest of his team, as the Ameagari no UFO drifts off into nothingness.

‘I wanna try something new!’

‘Why I have a bad feeling about it...’ Soushi muses and Sora pouts at him.

‘C’mon, it will be fun!’

His childhood friend scans the situation behind his back, then just sighs. Mori smiles at him.

‘Now, Soushi. I think I know what Sora has in mind. I think it’s a good idea to try it out now.’

‘If Mori-senpai supports it, I support it as well!’ calls Nozomu, and Sora grins. Ren just sweatdrops.

‘I’ve got majority vote! We’re doing it!’

‘I’ve never said I won’t do it...’ Soushi mutters, before raising his voice. ‘So? What’s the genius plan?’

‘A five-voices Song!’ Sora says with all the confidence in the world.

*

Shiki knows something about that new Song was different since the first note, a rapid drum and much louder keys' sounds. It was... more balanced? He risks a look behind himself, at his fellow, but much younger Composer. He’s had the look of excited focus on his face, an expression Shiki knew too well not to understand.

Sora was testing out a Song with all five Singers Singing.

There’s a fire, hot enough to burn even him, sizzling past his ear, and a shout of pain closeby.

‘I thought I told you not to get distracted by others’ Song, Darling!’

‘Does that mean I can get distracted by yours, Honey?’

‘Well, yea- right, obviously not, or you’ll drop everything and start Composing on the spot!’ Tsubasa snaps, and Shiki smiles wryly.

‘While that’s a very alluring idea...’ he catches a punch and pulls his attacker forward, making him collide with his knee,’...I like to finish my works in peace.’

‘Then clean up the mess that is your study!’ Tsubasa makes two hunters collide in the most amusing way, by sidestepping their pincer attack altogether.

‘It’s artistic distribution of items, Honey.’ Shiki scoffs. ‘Besides, like you’re any better.’

‘You guys live together?!’ asks incredulously one of their opponents, measuring them up. Both Shiki and Tsubasa look at him confused.

‘Obviously?’ they chorus.

‘We’re in the same Unit?’ reminds Tsubasa. ‘Though Shiki’s not my definition of a perfect flatmate, that’s for sure.’

‘Wow, what a coincidence, the feeling’s mutual.’ Shiki deadpans. ‘Your Song is the only thing I can put up with.’

‘Only put up?’ Tsubasa asks with a wink. Much to every outsider’s shock, Shiki snorts.

‘You’re a menace.’

‘For Marionettes, definitely!’ Tsubasa cheerfully returns, pushing next opponent outside of the ring. He can hear Rikka chuckling in the background. ‘See? Rikka agrees!’

‘He’s just being nice to you.’

‘Which you could also try to be!’

‘With that character, you’d never let me live my life if I did.’

‘Maybe that would be better?’

‘Excuse me, you two, but- could you focus here for a moment?’ Rikka huffs. Both Highs look in his direction.

‘Sorry.’

‘Seriously, how you manage to do that every time is beyond me.’ Dai confesses, and Rikka pushes hair away from his forehead.

‘Decades of experience. Literally.’

They refocus on the field where people were shakily standing up after the attack unleashed by Dai, and suddenly, Rikka realizes. Soara is already on the bridge of their second Song, and they sound tired.

_„Shiki.”_

His Changer hums, using the moment where their opponents regroup to measure his allies up. Then, he looks at their opponents, down to half their numbers, and nods to himself.

‘I’ve decided.’ he says, and Rikka suddenly has a bad feeling about it. ‘We’ll go with new Duet.’

'New Duet, as in new one or the new new one, or maybe you already have a new new new one ready?' Tsubasa specifies(?). Shiki huffs.

'Even I don't work this quick, especially not on your Songs, Tsubasa. The new new one.'

In other words, Dai's and Rikka's Duet.

‘You’re dragging Dai-chan-’

‘Shiki, isn’t that a bit-’ Rikka says at the same time, making a step in the direction of his Changer, but is stopped by the hand on his wrist.

‘I don’t mind.’ Dai says, loudly enough for Tsubasa to hear as well. Then, he looks at Rikka. ‘What are you scared of?’

‘But...’ Rikka hesitates. ‘Duets are much closer than Unit Songs, Dai. You could say... intimate, even. And you... probably hate vampires, don’t you?’

They’ve never talked about what made Tsubasa so vehemently demand Shiki to never involve them in vampire oaths, or vampire pacts, or any kind of work involving binding agreements, at the start of their coexistence, but. Rikka wasn’t Changed without a reason, and he knew first-hand, how much pain vampire can inflict on human, both physical and mental.

Many times when they change clothes, he'd catch the scars from feedings on Dai, old enough to be forgotten by almost everyone, but shining in Rikka’s eyes with an afterglow of much different wounds-

‘I thought I’ve already told you, you and Shiki are different.’ Dai groans. ‘Seriously, you and Tsubasa both. Overthinking. Babysitting me.’

‘Well, Dai-chan-’

‘Don’t call me that!’

‘-you must admit I have a good reason to do it.’ Tsubasa says, and then pauses as he looks at Rikka, his flame spread behind him like a thin veil separating him from their opponents, now trying once again to attack. ‘Though I agree Rikka has no bloodlust.’

‘That’s because he doesn’t drink.’ dryly says Shiki. ‘In that aspect, I’m being considerate of that concern of yours regarding Dai, don’t you think, Rikka? I’m not his first Duet partner aside of Tsubasa.’

He huffs.

‘But well, it’s not a Song you should be thinking that hard about. Its' tune is specifically designed for you to forget that common point between the two of you, and enjoy all the rest.’

‘Common point?’ Dai repeats, before his eyes sharpen, looking at Rikka. ‘Don’t tell me-’

‘You’ll know if we go with the Duet.’ Rikka says, still carefully releasing his wrist from Dai’s grasp. ‘That’s a second thing about Duets you need to consider before agreeing. With Tsubasa you’re so close you probably didn’t feel it at all, but those Songs mold their Singers together, their lives, energies, sometimes even memories...’

He drifts off, just as the slow guitar sounds finishing Soara’s second Song do. He doesn’t need to say more, Dai was a bright, beautiful person-

‘Good.’ that bright person now says slowly, looking between him and Shiki. ‘That means I won’t have to search for proper words to tell you that story, right? Because I want you to know. We swore we won’t hold back with each other.’

Rikka blinks. Then, just as he feels the soft signal from Ren, and sees Dai give the return signal, he smiles, a wide, beautiful smile.

‘You’re amazing, ne, Dai.’ Dai stutters.

‘Where did it come from?!’

‘It took me ages to get over my accident, and to this day I sometimes have nightmares of that night. To get over that in the time you did...’ Rikka shakes his head. When he looks up, there’s a challenging glint in his eye. ‘But, that just means I can’t let you win in our Song.’

Dai looks straight into his eyes, something he struggled with at the start, and returns the smirk.

‘That’s exactly what I want.’

‘Good.’ Rikka makes two steps to get behind Dai, and then leans against his back. Very softly, he adds.

‘Don’t regret this, okay?’

‘I won’t.’ Dai reaches back with his left hand, palm fisted, and Rikka bumps it with a chuckle. ‘Whenever you’re ready.’

 _„Rikka, hurry, or you’ll run out of time.”_ Shiki sends, he and Tsubasa carefully backing away in their direction, no hint of worry or panic. Rikka smiles, before sending answer, and simultaneously snapping his fingers.

‘Tsubasa, duck!’ Shiki calls out just as Rikka and Dai open their mouths at the same time, and third word of their Song sends a heatwave strong enough to blow half of the people inside the barrier off their legs.

„There’s no return now, indeed.” Rikka thinks, and can hear Dai’s amusement in return, as their flames mold into one, and their existences join themselves in a Song meant for leaving the pain, the suffering, the planning, all those annoying things behind, living in the moment, just moving as the rhythm dictates you, fulfilling the wish, touching the one you’ve yearned for, just in love...

Rikka leads with the Song, and lets himself be lead in the dance, and accepts the overwhelming sensation of being one but not _only_ one, sensations, memories, borders, all of it blurred, as pink and blue flames tease, play, dance with each other, just as their bodies do. Somewhere in his peripheral he can still feel Shiki’s overwhelming satisfaction at yet another Song of his coming to life, and can hear Tsubasa’s delighted laugh as the hunter also dances among the inferno they created, but his being is focused on Dai and Dai only.

That’s why he’s not even surprised when sensation of excruciating shoulder pain comes, only to be washed away by the Song, as protective of them as it would be destructive had they lost focus midway, and can see Dai’s eyes hanging on his neck, just for a second, before hunter pulls him close, the way Song dictated. Rikka leans against wide chest, letting hands embrace him, staring in the blue eyes unflinchingly.

_„So, now you know.”_

_„Now I know. And you know, too.”_

_„Well then...”_

_„Let us dance.”_

*

‘General Tsukino. They’re going to destroy the protection barrier.’ Hajime notes casually, observing flames chasing, clashing, pushing inside the protective boundaries, only tiny island of respire being the spot where Soara huddled, flames getting redirected by either a current of wind or fire counterpart. Or maybe just by the will of the Singers bringing them to life?

Tsukino ruffles his hair in exasperation just as the glyph masters he conferred with before the match stare in dumbfounded silence at their absorption rune melting away.

‘Of course they will... our main training room protection border almost melted when they presented a four-voice Songs followed by a Takamura-Okui duet, and you know how many reinforcements it has! Your family helped in setting it up, after it was decided you and Hanazono will join.’

Hajime nods slowly. As one of the strongest Hunters on the Field, his power needed special procedures to be safely contained and trained. Technically speaking, even two Highs shouldn’t be able to break security solutions introduced in Tsukino for his sake, and then reinforced further with Tsukino’s own development teams, but.

Songs weren’t adding the powers of the Singers up, they were amplifying and multiplying them, and he knew it from his own experience. That wasn’t the point though. If they didn’t do something soon, the barriers would break, and glyph messengers, people with no Field training whatsoever, would be in danger.

‘Should we contain it?’ Hajime asks, nodding at Yuki. ‘Although darkness will make it impossible to see the inside, making it easier to cheat. Or accuse either side of cheating.’

Tsukino exhales.

‘The vision isn’t great right now either, but I’d like to avoid complete blackout, if possible. I have enough complaining officials as it is. Not that there won’t be more afterwards.’ he grumbles to himself, and Yuki smiles in sympathy.

‘I believe I might have a better solution in that case, General.’ says the soft voice to their side, and all three people turn to see blond with bright blue eyes. ‘Hanazono-san, Mutsuki-san, it’s good to see you, I haven’t had a chance to greet you before the official part started.’

‘It’s good to see you too, Etou.’ Hajime returns, Yuki smiling.

‘Kouki-kun, you look well, too.’ she says, before blinking and looking at the field of flames, and barriers, cracking under the pressure of powers contained within. ‘Do I suspect correctly you would like to offer to deal with it yourself?’

‘Indeed.’ Kouki smiles softly. ‘Fire and light are related, and we-’

He motions behind himself, where rest of Growth paid attention to both the match - a one-sided beating by now, really - and their conversation.

‘-already have the experience in purifying field after Solids, so. Containing their power should be possible, even without obscuring the vision of spectators, especially since the Song is already underway. I won’t have to block all of it, and if it's just from the bridge onwards, I should manage.’

‘That’s a good idea.’ says Tsukino, Hajime and Yuki nodding.

‘Do you need us to withdraw?’ Hajime seriously asks younger boy. Light and darkness weakened each other in close proximity, even if the fighters were on the same side, and he and Yuki were probably the strongest darkness wielders in the hall. Kouki shakes his head, measuring the distance between them and the barrier.

‘Just, if I may request, stay here.’

‘You have our word.’ Yuki smiles at him again, and Kouki nods, before looking and Tsukino. General also nods.

‘I’m sorry, Etou. Please go save some lives by stopping our Sword Unit from frying them.’

Kouki chuckles softly, even as he turns and walks in the direction of the barrier, now visibly cracking under the pressure. He kneels just few steps before it, where the knocked out hunters were cursing softly while getting treated, and puts his hands on the ground. Reaching inside himself, he calls out softly.

‘Lend me your power, Aesodius.’

It’s at this moment the Singers inside the flame field freeze, just for a second, in a close embrace and eyes locked, leaving themselves completely open to each other as their bridge ends. They then jump apart, fire exploding even higher than before, and Kouki can see the glyphs just in front of him literally melting into nothingness as the Glyph masters’ barrier fell apart, but it was okay. Aesodius has fed the matrix, a thin net of energy Kouki spread in the air, and now another barrier, glowing in a faint gold color, was securely keeping the flames in their designated place. Kouki grunts.

It was _hot_.

Thankfully for him, and all of the people inside of his barrier still, the Song ended mere seconds after, flames quietly withdrawing, waning into nothingness, as the dancers will them away, and simultaneously, the giant clock measuring down sixteen minutes finishes its’ countdown and starts buzzing.

Inside of the light barrier, Solids stand confidently, Soara slowly getting to their feet and approaching their partner Unit.

No opponents of theirs get up from their places on the ground.

*

It’s two weeks after the Briefing, and Tsukino _still_ gets people visiting him just to complain about effects of Solids’ Song.

‘But still, why didn’t they just stop when they knew they have won already?! Really, this prideful vampires!’

Tsukino sighs; how many times did he get people present him with this logic, and how many times did he explain-

‘Songs used with purpose of influencing their surroundings are going to turn against their Singer if interrupted midway.’ comes the voice from the door, and the general spread in front of Tsukino’s desk squeaks unmanly, twisting in his seat to catch the purpleheaded vampire coming through the door into his field of vision.

‘T-Takamura-’

‘General.’ Shiki completely ignores the man stuttering next to him, presenting the thick file to his superior. ‘Today’s the deadline.’

‘Ah, thank you.’ Tsukino stifles the urge to open the envelope. Even if they weren’t nearly as exciting as those he Composed for his Singers, Shiki’s Songs were always interesting to see. ‘Did Haizuki do something the last time he came to pick them up? You usually avoid bringing them personally.’

Shiki scowls.

‘Tsubasa and him joined forces.’ he explains shortly, and Tsukino tries to stifle his snicker. Although just as problematic as their Composer, Tsubasa tried to help Rikka with taking care of Shiki in his own way, resulting in sometimes quite comical situations that were slowly becoming infamous among Field Units of Tsukino. It seemed that hunter has managed to involve even Backstage workers into it, although Tsukino could also chalk it up to Haizuki’s natural mischievousness.

‘I see. I’ll warn him not to overdo it.’ Tsukino scribbles something on the paper on his desk, then pretends to look as if he only now noticed the general still sitting in the chair, frozen by the presence of High vampire in the room. ‘General Fumoi, I’m sorry! Did you have any other business with us?’

‘N-no, not at all.’ the man seems to take the opening and quickly gathers himself from his seat, before bolting for the door, almost falling into Hajime, hand raised to knock at the door. ‘Excuse me!’

‘Well, that was quick.’ comments the darkness hunter, before blinking at remaining occupants of the office. ‘Takamura-san, good day to you. Should I wai-’

‘No, not at all.’ General invites him in, and Shiki moves to the side, to let other leader enter the space in front of the desk. ‘I think our Sword Unit leader should get to know the information that you’re bringing in anyway. Is it about-’

‘Fluna and Seleas.’ Hajime nods, before offering the thick file to the General, who accepts it with another sigh. ‘They’ve finished the Tunnel part of their travel last week, and by today, have reached the last patrol base in front of their respective nests. They’re going to prepare there and continue the operation as planned in two days.’

He hesitates for a moment.

‘If they succeed, they will be back in the shelter by the end of the month, but their state-’

‘I know. Before they will be able to go back to the Field, some time will pass, even if the plan succeeds.’ Tsukino nods. ‘It was the risk we’ve calculated into it.’

He looks at the content of the file he received.

‘I’m more worried about state of our other Special Unit.’

Hajime sighs.

‘If this helps, after that last prank, Shun hasn’t managed to drag them into any new event, according to the last report Kai has sent, a bit over hour ago.’

‘Procella is again on a long term?’ Shiki asks with interest, and Hajime nods, before humming.

‘Actually, did Solids even meet with them? I feel like every time they get back for recovery, Sword is on the Field, or you’re checking on state of western nest?’

‘No, we haven’t met yet.’ Shiki confirms. ‘Which is a pity, since it seems like it would be better to clear some issues before we progress as allies.’

‘Some issues?’ Hajime and Tsukino say, but Shiki shakes his head.

‘It’s not my story to tell. Although part of it got pretty infamous.’ he huffs. ‘Like anything involving an Okui.’

‘It has to do with Tsubas- no, actually, I feel like I know what we’re talking about.’ Hajime says slowly. ‘It has to do with Procellarum’s Youngest Pair, isn’t it.’

‘As I’ve said, it’s not my story to tell; I also know it through my link with Rikka, rather than by the first-hand account, so. I’d rather not muddle up the story more than it already has been muddled up in rumors.’ Shiki returns, stare even as he is measured up by the proclaimed strongest hunter of the Field.

‘I just want to make sure you know Six Gravity will stay by Procellarum’s side. We’ve used too much nerves on looking after them and confirming each others’ intentions for the past god knows how long to blow it up.’ Hajime says slowly, tone still neutral, but Shiki catches the undertone of warning.

‘As I’ve said, I know the story second-hand. However, I have to say, I express the same sentiment towards my Singers you do towards your and Procellarum’s Unitmates.’ he returns, making sure not to sound aggressive. He was older than all men in this room, after all...

‘And with that being said, I’d like to remind you you all are on the same side.’ Tsukino speaks up, looking at his Units’ leaders. ‘But, I see the meeting would be necessary to clear possible misunderstandings, eventual past mistakes and so on.’

He sighs, before reaching for one of his drawers.

‘But before that happens, I will have you cover quite a lot of the Field, and busy times won’t end any time soon. Even with the most optimistic scenario of all girls succeeding, we will have to make up for the power loss they will suffer as a result of the project. Then, there’s the issue of the Shield Unit. Shiki, have you heard anything from-’

‘Last we talked, Shu wrapped up the Osaka incident and moved to the Okinawan matters of his Group.’ Shiki responds. ‘He should briefly visit Tokyo shelter as he will move through the Spine shelters up north, wrapping up issues of the Unit of Seven, as well as his own obligations as the head Guardian.’

‘”Wrapping up”...does it mean the Unit ceases to-’ slowly asks Hajime, and Shiki measures him with a calculating look for a while, before nodding.

‘It was a formation originally meant for the war time. Its’ usefulness got prolonged by the Great Tragedy, but its’ members all have different specialties.’ he says shortly. ‘Keeping them together when they could be working separately is a waste of potential. Especially for Shu, who has finally caught a lead on his Singers.’

‘Oh?’ Tsukino perks up. Shiki nods.

‘At least one of them is in this shelter, working as a Backstage Support. Very good too, according to Shu. Although,’ Shiki snorts a short laugh, surprising other men. ‘I’d give him limited credibility on that. He seemed lovestruck.’

‘And you know that because?’

‘I’ve been there.’ Shiki shakes his head, and there’s fondness in both his eyes and voice when he says, ‘It’s only thanks to Tsubasa’s character being what it is that I’ve been quickly disillusioned.’

‘Yet, you keep together, huh.’ Tsukino hides his smirk behind his hand. ‘I can’t say it looks like a regular Singer-Composer relationship.’

‘Because it isn’t, besides, what’s a „regular” relationship anyway?’ Shiki quirks his eyebrow at him, just slightest bit challenging. ‘If Tsubasa has correct info, there’s grand total nine of Composers in the whole country left, and that’s accounting for the Fujimura, hidden away by the Etous, and Oohara, hidden away by his race being what it is.’

‘And out of those nine, five work with us.’ Tsukino says, energy suddenly seeping away from him. ‘I sense major protests from outside, so please, make sure there’s nothing that could blow us up from inside.’

‘As long as the thing Solids wants to clarify won’t injure anybody in the project.’ Hajime says, and Shiki hums.

‘I think I might have... misphrased myself before. Judging by Dai’s and Tsubasa’s feelings, it’s something they have already put behind themselves, but worry the other side might not.’

‘That...’ Hajime looks away from the High next to himself. ‘I really hope you’re right about your teammates’ feelings.’

‘I am.’ Shiki says with confidence, but doesn’t elaborate. Tsukino suddenly realizes he also didn’t elaborate on their relationship not being pure Composer-Singer connection. And coupled with how he described Shu’s affection for his first Singer...

General shakes his head, standing up. It was none of his business, as long as it didn’t affect Unit’s efficiency.

‘I’ll make sure to gather all of you up for the official briefing after Seleas and Fluna return. Until then, though.’ he picks up stack of files from the drawer, splits it into two, and gives them to the leaders. ‘Do your best on your respective missions, and do not let any outsider get the idea they might ruin relationships between Units. I already have reports of at least few families being displeased with us adding yet another set of heirs to our roster with Solids and Growth. Soara is a bit less of a problem, but that’s probably only because Arihara-related families like to work from the shadows, and Nanase is second child...’

‘Understood, sir.’ Hajime accepts the files, and Shiki does the same with a sigh.

‘And Rikka asks me why I preferred to stay out of this as a Puppetmaster’s bait...’

‘I’m sorry we cannot let you stay the bait forever.’ Tsukino smiles wryly. ‘But at least your Songs and Singers are there now? And let’s hope no skeleton in the closet will change that.’

‘I don’t think it will.’ Shiki says, before he and Hajime exit the office. Tsukino sighs.

‘I really hope so. We won’t survive without you guys.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The problems thicken~  
> I needed to let rest of Solids know of the issue before others(and readers) would get to understand it, but well, I think it came out well? Hajime might have a wrong idea regarding our boys, but well, being overprotective of the member that looks like a young teenager is bound to happen, even if that member is a vampire... oh dear.  
> Next chapter is the one I was complaining on twitter about, with too much background explanation and too little action pushing the story forward, but well...there is cameo by a very important person to Quell, and a lot of me being unable to hold back the boys from creating comical situations for both their unitmates and themselves.  
> Thanks for reading, see you in next chapter!


	3. Jinsei na hard mode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing is over nine thousand in my Word document's count!  
> Also, this chapter is mostly a lot of talking, but, we needed that to establish the situation... and clear up few issues.

Fluna and Seleas are back to the shelter with delay, and so, the briefing also is slightly delayed, to allow girls to sleep off Tunnel lag before reporting. By some stroke of luck (or bad luck, depending on how you look at that) Procellarum and Solids have yet to meet, as well, and Rikka grows jittery. And there are only two things jittery Rikka knows to do to calm down his nerves.

Dote and cook.

He can’t dote on their partner Unit, since Soara was out Supporting team from outside Tsukino today.

With time, they’ve learned that while both Growth and Soara had Songs aimed at Support, they were targeted at different aspects of it. While Growth melodies spread over all of the battlefield, cleansing not only people, but also the air and ground, and even greenery, vastly tilting the conditions of Battles in the livings’ favor, Soara worked with people. They cheered them on, pushed for their bodies to go past their limits, enhancing their senses.

Obviously, like any Song, theirs also gave the fighters listening to it a near-immunity to the Black Despair, but where Growth seemed to purify illness before it managed to even touch a living being, Soara seemed to give an invisible armor of sorts to the fighters working with them, making them the favorite borrowed Unit for the smaller patrols and people going to the missions near the shelters.

To Rikka though, it only meant that his second main target of doting was away, since both Tsubasa and Dai (primary targets, surprisingly willing to be such) were also on a small job issued from the arm of Okui family. His only hope to settle his doting instincts now laid in front of him, in the building of the unaffiliated Support organization, that also had connections to Izumi group.

He enters the building, not really new, but not really shabby, either, and greets the receptionist, before making his way to the back. He did occasionally come here to help, be it by picking the Tsukino’s order of goods or helping in bringing in materials the organization took from the families related to Tsukino.

Today, though, he just wants to see one man, hopefully check if he remembers to take breaks between fulfilling his Unit duties, head duties, and then the search he’s been doing for as long as Rikka can remember.

He gets to the transportation section, and looks around.

‘If you’re looking for Sh-for Izumi-san, he just left, Sera-san.’

He turns to the source of voice and is met with a man taller than him, with a warm smile and just as warm, if attentive green eyes. He wears uniform of a Backstage Support, so his brown hair are left without cover, sticking whichever way in a somewhat endearing hairstyle, and Rikka finds his lip twitch upwards from just looking at the man.

‘And you are?’ he asks, just to make sure. The man did seem to know him, after all...

‘Ah, I’m Horimiya Eichi. I was Support during your dispatch last week, but I presume you don’t really remember me~’

‘Ah, last week one was... a bit bad. Sorry.’ Rikka admits with a shrug of helplessness, even if „bad” didn’t even start to describe the rush in which they dispatched, the news of three Puppetmasters and small army of Marionettes swarming near second Etou region enough to summon all of Alive Units and Solids on site. With three Composers distracting the Puppetmasters they somehow managed to come back without casualties, but the whole event blurs in his memory in a rush of nerves, then fury and fire, and then worry and exhaustion. One tall brunet with kind eyes just disappeared in that combo.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay! Even we got to know it was pretty bad, before Tsukino entered the Field we got three other teams through and then had to withdraw them just as soon. I’m glad we’ve had you!’ Eichi is the chatter type, and Rikka smiles a soft smile. It wasn’t empty words, either, Eichi attuning to his apologetic feelings and trying to dispel them with sharing the event through his eyes. He senses a kindred spirit.

‘Say, Horimiya-kun-’

‘Ah, just Eichi is fine, Sera-san, I’m younger anyway, and in Support-’

‘Then don’t make me feel old and call me Rikka.’ Rikka smiles, seeing the other man stutter. ‘Anyway, you’ve mentioned something about Shu?’

‘Ah, yes, you seemed to look for someone, and he mentioned he has friends in Solids, so I presumed...’

‘You talked with Shu about matters other than work? I’m impressed.’ and he really is. Shu was definitely a workaholic, especially when providing Support. Rikka suspected he got that after Shiki. ‘In fact, yes, I was looking for him. So, he’s no longer there?’

‘Unfortunately.’ Eichi shakes his head. ‘He got an urgent call to Hokkaido. Apparently, we’ve lost another shelter, and few people got injured during evacuation.’

He looks uncomfortable, notes Rikka.

‘Are you, perhaps, from the region?’ he asks carefully, but Eichi shakes his head.

‘My parents moved to the Tokyo shelter before I was born... but minor Aomori shelter is where my grandparents lived. It’s close...’

‘It is.’ Rikka is sympathetic. He still remembers the feeling of dread when Okui Yuri delivered him the news of his village being destroyed, and he didn’t even have any relatives there, by then... ‘I’ll be on a look out for information, since we also have an Unit that was returning from that region recently. And if you talk with Shu, I’m sure he will also tell you more if you ask about it after he returns. Maybe everyone is alright.’

Eichi nods his head vigorously.

‘You’re right, and dwelling on it here won’t help them anyway, right?’ he grins, and Rikka answers with a close-lipped smile of his own. ‘I’m sorry for you missing Shu, too.’

‘As long as he was doing alright, I’m relieved.’ Rikka returns, and Eichi hums in agreement.

‘He looked busy, but aside of that, pretty good.’ he says, then Rikka can spy a faint blush, just above collar of the man’s jacket. ‘Then again, he usually looks good.’

‘That’s true.’ Rikka laughs, trying to stifle his amusement at the new observation, when another voice calls out to him.

‘Sera-san?’

Oh, this one is also familiar. Rikka turns.

‘As I’ve said previously, we’re going to be deployed to the battlefield together, to brush with death on regular basis, I think it’s enough connection to call me by my name, Kouki-kun.’ he answers, and the teen pauses, considering, before nodding.

‘I see. Then, Rikka-san. Ah, Horimiya-san, too.’

‘Etou-kun! Thank you for your continued support!’ Eichi smiles at the teen younger than him, even as he salutes, and Rikka blinks. Right, Kouki was heir of Etous. In Support, they were practically gods.

Kouki nods at the older man, before turning to Rikka.

‘Are you on errand for Takamura-san?’

‘Ah, no, just wanted to check on a friend of mine, but Eichi just told me we’ve missed each other.’ with that, Rikka sighs softly. ‘Perhaps I should just go grocery shopping...Tsubasa and Dai will be hungry after their return.’

‘Oh, that’s a coincidence.’ Kouki blinks. ‘I was about to go restock as well. I like doing my shopping myself.’

He adds quickly, noticing Eichi’s mouth opening. Older man smiles, sheepish.

‘I’ve been seen through~’

‘It’s just,’ Kouki huffs softly, and this is the biggest show of irritation Rikka has seen the teen express. ‘I know who I am, but I really can shop and cook by myself. There’s many more people needing that attention.’

‘That’s right~wait, it really is right!’ Eichi jumps up and checks on time, then yelps softly, making Rikka smile against himself.

‘I’ve stopped you mid-work, didn’t I? I’m sorry, just blame it on me.’ he says, and Eichi shakes his head with a wide smile.

‘I’ll just rush, like I always do, it’s okay! It was nice meeting you anyway, so, I hope we can chat sometime again!’

‘Oh, with pleasure, now go, before you get too late to excuse yourself.’ Rikka waves at the other man, taking off, and chuckles. ‘He’s a really kind soul.’

‘He definitely is.’ Kouki agrees. ‘Even in Support, he’s known as a very caring and practically fearless persona, especially after meeting Izumi’s group head back as an intern.’

‘Oh.’ Rikka smiles. ‘It must’ve been a memorable meeting for him. Shu has a pretty strong aura going around him.’

‘You- ah, right, you and Izumi-san know each other through Takamura-san, right.’ Kouki says, and Rikka nods, as a new idea appears in his head.

‘Say, Kouki-kun. I’m going to be a nuisance here, so I was thinking about getting those groceries, do you want to come together?’

Kouki blinks.

‘I’d love to, but... you cook, Rikka-san?’

Rikka smiles.

‘Leftovers from the time I was a human, although lately I feel like I’m not developing my repertoire properly.’

‘Oh.’ Kouki quietly stems in the information, as they leave the Support building. ‘In that case. Would you like to join me? I’m curious about the recipes you might know, since you’ve been cooking for much longer than I have.’

Rikka quickly gets over his surprise.

‘I’d love to.’ he smiles.

Nothing came out of his doting, so maybe cooking will help instead.

*

It’s few days later that General Tsukino finally has a chance to call general meeting for all their Field forces, Soara and Gravi still in recovery, and Procella fresh out of it, with Solids and Growth in the standby condition. Obviously, Fluna and Seleas are also in recovery, although it’s already a common knowledge among leaders it will take more than just few days for the ladies to come back out onto Field.

Still, it was the first time in a long while when all of them were in one place and in one piece, so the information about gathering unleashed just as much tension as it did excitement.

Fluna and Seleas are actually the first to enter the meeting room, now adjusted to fit over thirty people, various chairs, cushions and other seats set in a more or less circular formation, letting everyone see anyone.

Alive Units are next to join them, and while Kouki and Morihito easily strike a conversations with the more experienced huntresses, there’s a fair share of mutual staring and shy introductions from other members. They only temporarily get disturbed by the entrance of Six Gravity, with Koi unashamedly glomping his little sister mid-word, and Yuki stopping her conversation to greet her cousin, apparently both Leaders too busy to see each other before. Kouki, who was her conversation partner, doesn’t really mind, although he has to wonder about Mamoru clinging to his back the second other darkness hunter entered the room, but, oh well. If all of the people in the room were Soul Spirit Users, most of them would end up being carnivores, and even as a Legendary, Mamoru was still a herbivore. It was probably instinctive, to want to have a strong protection between him and the world. It was the same during the Briefing, after all.

Then the Middle pair of Procellarum enter, one vampire utterly furious, the other utterly apologetic.

‘We’re sorry, but Rui cannot get up from his afternoon nap-’

‘It’s morning though?’ Sora asks, and the vampire blushes furiously.

‘It’s fine, it’s fine~’ Six Gravity’s own Middle Pair hunter leans away on his armchair. ‘It’s always a good time for an afternoon nap.’

‘It defeats the purpose of calling it „afternoon” though.’ adds his partner with a sheepish expression. Alive Units get the feeling it’s a conversation happening all the time whenever two Special Units are together.

‘A-Anyway, Iku is waking him up as we speak.’ finishes the blackheaded vampire, and his partner, in a much less polite tone, adds:

‘Our idiot leader has yet again wandered off to god knows where to do god knows what, so Kai is getting him back to the meeting.’

‘Y-You...’

‘Do you think you need help?’ Hajime asks after a deep sigh, but redhead shakes his head.

‘I think Kai has said he’s got him under control, this time.’

‘So it seems.’ adds petite, white-haired leader of Seleas. ‘Here comes the White Demon.’

As if to answer her announcement, the door opens once again with flourish, and the vampire-human pair walk through it. The one at the front has shining golden eyes and hair as white as Seleas’ leader.

‘My, great day to all of you, especially Hajime, I hope you’re feeling great, especially Hajime. Ah, I see our goddesses are also back, I hope you’re better.’

‘Obviously not as good as Hajime.’ dryly notes Ai from within Koi’s embrace, prompting another bout of compliments, cut short only by the chop to the white head.

‘Yes, yes, we know your love for Hajime knows no bounds, now shut up and behave somewhat normally, so that you’re not freaking out new Units from the get go.’ says the tall hunter, presumably Kai, good-naturedly dragging his leader off in the direction of chairs pretty much away from Hajime, but also with a good view of Hajime.

Kouki can’t say he’s not impressed. He’s heard legends about Shimotsuki Shun, and ability to pacify him while not being Mutsuki Hajime was definitely something they would need.

‘Back to our conversation, Etou-kun.’ Yuki speaks up calmly, as if the show from just moments ago didn’t happen. ‘Do you have any news of the Shield Unit that will pair up with Growth?’

‘Unfortunately. Beyond the fact Izumi-san is working his best on gathering his team, we’ve heard nothing new.’ Kouki shakes his head. ‘It’s a bit unsettling, too. Soon, it will be half a year since the first announcement of the Tsukino audition, too.’

Yuki nods sympathetically, and Hajime turns to them.

‘Shield is created by Izumi Shu, right?’ he asks, and when Kouki nods, he frowns softly. ‘He’s a veteran of the human-vampire war and the Great Tragedy, so I don’t think we have anything to worry in terms of power, but...’

‘The time also plays crucial role.’ Yuki fills for her cousin, hands in her lap. She smiles softly. ‘Although I think we managed to help with that.’

‘Don’t praise the night before the sunrise, though.’ Tsubaki, until now seemingly just listening on to their conversation, speaks up. ‘The results of our action cannot be considered permanent, and we will have yet to assess how much time it bought us.’

‘But, if there’s certainty it did buy us time, it’s already a good thing.’ speaks up new voice. ‘Though, considering last time we applied a temporary solution, maybe not so good.’

‘Shiki. Don’t put a dampener on people’s talk after just joining in.’ Rikka scolds his Changer, who grunts, before turning to group of hunters they interrupted. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘No, not at all, Rikka-san.’ Kouki turns to the newcomers. ‘Thank you for the last recipe, it was delicious.’

‘Ah, you’ve tried it already?’

‘I was just struggling with the idea for dinner the other day, so.’ Kouki’s eyes wander behind vampires. ‘Tsubasa-san, Dai-san, good day to you.’

‘Hey, Etou, looking good! And having your Composer on a short leash as always, too.’

‘Hajime? Is something wrong?’ Yuki asks her cousin in the time other people chuckle (or whine) at Tsubasa’s comment. Her cousin is frowning slightly, observing the two hunters of Solids, but he answers to her in a placating tone.

‘No, it’s nothing.’

He still observes as Solids join the circle, choosing their seats. They all abandon them, though, as General Tsukino marches in, three Backstage Support vampire members behind him.

‘Be at rest. Sit down, ladies and gentlemen.’ Tsukino waves his hand at them before taking a seat himself, his an armchair facing the door. ‘Since Shu’s reported his absence for the sake of dealing with matters in Hokkaido just few hours ago, I presume we’re in set already?’

‘Actually, we’re still one pair shor-’ Kai starts, when the door opens for the last time, and young brunet hunter comes through, pulling along an obviously sleepy vampire.

‘Sorry, we’re late! Rui couldn’t wake up properly!’ hunter cries out, bowing to the room as a whole, before turning to his partner. ‘C’mon Rui.’

‘Ikkun, you’re too cheerful in the morning.’

‘It’s barely a morning anymore, Rui!’ protest Ikkun, or, well, Iku, prompting few delicate snorts.

‘It is, if I just woke-ah.’ Rui finally decided to open his eyes, and the second he did, they automatically went to where Solids sat. Vampire freezes.

‘Moment of truth...’ Hajime mutters under his breath, as everybody, one by one, start looking between Rui and tallest of Solids members’, currently locked with him in a contest for more shocked stare. It’s Rui who breaks it first, stuttering, breath short and raspy.

‘I... I just remembered...I didn’t...Yamato...didn’t feed...I got to go!’

He jerks away from the hold of his partner with surprising power. Hajime observes the hunter of Solids, though. Who stands up, slowly.

‘Rui.’ he says slowly, almost hesitatingly, but Rui still flinches, as if hit.

‘Sorry... I’ll go!’

‘Ru-’

But, it’s too late and the youngest vampire in Special Units disappear with a soft wave of shaky energy around him.

‘What was... that.’ Ren speaks up softly, his eyes glistening. ‘That power...’

‘Void.’ Dai answers without really registering it. ‘Nullification. It’s instinctive skill of his.’

He makes a step in the direction of the door, and then stops, as if catching himself.

‘Wait, and how do you know it?’ the fiery redhead of Procellarum asks suspiciously, and Dai flinches as if burned. ‘Even we were kept in dark about it until well after formation-’

‘It’s because he was the one to help Rui reign it in, right along his sensoric powers.’ speaks up Tsubasa, until now just observing situation, the same way Hajime did. ‘Dai-chan, don’t you need to go after Chibizuki?’

‘Don’t call me that and don’t call him that.’ Dai says as if he was playing an old, very old recording. ‘Besides, he obviously-’

‘Dai.’ Shiki interrupts him. ‘Just go.’

‘Dai-chan.’ Tsubasa speaks up again. ‘I can explain stuff here, but that-’

He points at the door behind which Rui disappeared.

‘-that, you need to explain yourself, so. Leave here to big brother Tsubasa?’

‘Wait a moment, it’s about our member you’re talkin-’

‘And it’s about the past that he seems to still be burdened by.’ Rikka gently speaks up and over the worried vampire from Procella’s middle group. ‘We can explain everything, I’m sure, but, there are some other things that need to be taken care of before that. Dai, go.’

‘Rikka?’ Dai turns to the vampire, and Rikka smiles.

‘If you think it will help, you can use my story, too.’ at Dai’s widening eyes, he smiles. ‘I realized how burdening it was only after sharing it with you. If you and that young boy can be relieved of your burdens with it, then by all means.’

Dai inhales slowly, then nods, and turns back to the door.

‘Tsubasa, tell everyone everything, but don’t overdramatize it. Rikka, keep him in check, please.’ he says, already on the way to the door. He stops only when the much younger hunter steps in his way. Iku looks up at him defiantly, but Dai only approaches and puts a hand on his arm. ‘Kannazuki. Sorry, I’ll get your partner back here.’

‘One question, before that.’ there’s voice of the good-natured hunter that kept Shimotsuki in check. He has a very serious, but also very open expression on his face. ‘What are you to Rui?’

Dai hesitates for a moment. His eyes automatically travel to the wrists of Procellarum’s hunters- one and then another- and, upon noticing olive green bracelet-like tattoo’s on them, nods to himself.

‘Former something like you two are now.’ he says, before leaving the room.

‘Well, that explained nothing.’

‘Quite the opposite, explained almost everything.’ Shun, until now sitting quietly, speaks up, tone relaxed. ‘But, the most important is the fact Rui won’t be hurt by him.’

There’s a snort from the direction of Solids.

‘Of course he won’t, Dai-chan’s a softie.’ Tsubasa says, raising from his seat, only to turn the chair backwards and flop on it, arms resting on the top of backrest. ‘Much better~ even if he wasn’t one, the caretaker pacts would prevent him from hurting little Minazuki, since those things were made independently from the main contract I deactivated.’

‘I sense a very long, and very confusing story ahead.’ slowly says Juno, but Tsubasa hums.

‘Although it’s unusual in our times, it’s not really that confusing, I think. Just your regular power abuse going way too far.’

Tsukino sighs heavily.

‘Okay, since two of our members are absent anyway, we might as well hear a proper explanation. Okui-kun, if you could, from the start, please.’

‘Sure~Eighteen years ago, somewhere in April, a healthy boy was born to a healthy family of-’

‘Tsubasa.’ Rikka chuckles, even as he scolds his Unitmate. ‘Too far. Also, I think Dai agreed to disclose only parts regarding the case, not all of his life.’

‘Aah... I forgot you also know the story now...’ Tsubasa moans. ‘Alright then~does everybody know about Minazuki incident that happened... now six and half a year ago?’

‘Among vampires it’s called an Okui incident, though.’ Morihito speaks up softly, and other half of the room ohs. ‘The case of tampering with servitude pact that was exposed, and then proved and destroyed by the next head of the Okuis, at the time a fourteen year old, Okui Tsubasa.’

‘I was wondering if the name is different for vampires.’ Tsubasa grins in Soara’s direction, before suddenly switching gears to absolutely serious. ‘The servitude pact was established between Murase family, a family of casual humans, and Minazukis, a rather old High family. It was your regular agreement- vampires will provide protection, if humans will provide manforce and will agree to feedings from the members of the family. Not pleasant, but more or less fair stuff, a lot of those were made after Great Tragedy. The point which was tampered with by Minazukis regarded feeding.’

He looks around the room.

‘Normally, those things have a restriction- the ‘non-lethal’ sort or ‘dose that allow provider to survive’ sort, this kind of terminology. It was supposed to be erased from the agreement, and one line was added. The line read: In special situation, if Blood Empowerment is required, Minazuki reserve the right to sacrifice chosen of the Murase family’.’

‘But-! That’s-’ You jumps to his feet. ‘That’s disgusting!’

'Agreed.' quietly says Rikka, hands in his lap, fingers clutching at each other tightly. Tsubasa leans and mutely squeezes vampire's palms in support.

‘Blood Empowerment?’ Mamoru turns to Kouki, and Sora also turns to the other leader, but it’s Shun who answers their question.

‘An old ritual, where vampire drains human of all their blood to quickly gain power.’ he hums. ‘It’s considered pretty low method, though, since Wanderers adored to do it, and if you weren’t from a long-line of Highs, your power-up wouldn’t even reach a level of freshly ascended High, no matter how many lives you’d end with that method.’

He looks at Tsubasa.

‘Though lineage wasn’t a problem in that case.’

‘No, it wasn’t.’ Tsubasa agrees, straightening to his previous position. ‘You probably know where I’m going with it, so let me just recap it quickly. At the time, Minazukis had two sons, a heir and his little brother. While the older developed just fine, the family decided the younger to be too weak, and decided to rush his development. At the time, Murase family also had a son, a boy just few years older than the second son, so he naturally was assigned to look after him, with caretaker pacts and so on. Then, when the decision about Blood Empowerment is agreed upon, that little boy is decided to be the sacrifice. That boy is Dai-chan.’

‘And the second son is Rui.’ Kai says in disbelief. ‘I knew he had a history with his family he didn’t want to talk about, but for all those nightmares to be about that...’

‘Chibizuki has a nightmares?’ Tsubasa asks curiously. Kai blinks.

‘Why are you calling him like that?’ he asks instead, and Tsubasa grins.

‘The story about genius fourteen year old hunter don’t mention it, huh.’ he says casually. ‘That the victim he was saving was his childhood friend, and the one who first commissioned him to look into the contract was actually the second son of Minazukis.’

‘What.’

‘The day he understood what his family wants to make of Dai, he came crying to him.’ Tsubasa explains. ‘Because the contract also bound Murases' ability to speak against Minazukis' actions, Dai took him to a meeting with me, so that he could explain the situation personally. Because we couldn’t make it an official report- Rui was from the family that was breaking the rules, after all - my family agreed to my proposition to sell the story I was just getting interested because my childhood friend was behaving strangely.’

He leans away on the chair.

‘Which wasn’t that far off the mark, I would start looking into them anyway, but Rui spilling what actually is going on greatly helped in looking for clues. He was also the one who led me to the untampered version of the agreement, that Minazukis hid, since destroying or changing this stuff could happen only with mutual agreement of both sides, and Murases grew disobedient after learning their only son is to be eaten for Empowerment. Not in the aggressive way, the contract bound them against that, but they started disagreeing, or not answering their masters whenever they could, greatly slowing the process.’

He scowls.

‘And since Minazukis got kinda impatient, they thought they will urge the family to obey by hurting Dai-chan.’

‘Ah. His shoulder.’ Rikka speaks up softly, holding his own arm. Tsubasa looks at him.

‘Yeah. Dai-chan loves water. He was the one to teach Rui how to swim, he even thought about opening a swimming school, just in case, if we ever get something more than few seaside shelters, and it will become a needed skill. With ruined shoulder, that dream was crossed out.’

‘Then why is he on the Field?’ Hajime asks with a frown. ‘In a Battle Unit, no less.’

In answer, Tsubasa raises his forearm, where three separate glyphs start to shine.

‘Strengthening runes.’ Tsubasa explains the obvious. ‘Our family is known for permanent enchantments, and although Dai-chan has no blood relation to us, he’s compatible with them. Since he became my partner, he’s also my derivative, meaning his power is connected with mine. As long as his energy core isn’t depleted -which would be hard, this thing is big- he’s good to go, even against a Puppetmaster. Plus, our medics did everything they could to get his shoulder in more or less working shape. Even without enchantments, it’s useful within normal limits of usage. Just, not enough for the swimming instructor.’

He sighs.

‘Back to the Minazuki-Murase drama, since certain level of compatibility is needed between the victim and the feeder for the Empowerment to gain full potential, Rui started avoiding Dai-chan whenever he could, trying to lower it. I explained it to Dai, and even offered to pass messages between them, but I think it scared Chibizuki even more, for he cut off any contact with me as well. I was trying to localize him since he was a valuable witness for me, and well, Dai-chan was sick from worry, but it’s not easy to localize a child whose one of go-to techniques is a goddamn Void that can erase any trace of his existence if he so wishes.’

‘Yeah, it’s terrible when he uses it for hiding his napping place.’ Kai agrees, before catching himself. Tsubasa grins.

‘So, he still does that. Dai-chan complained about the same thing when we were kids.’ smile then disappears from his face. ‘Just to make sure you know the full picture, it’s not only vampires that were guilty of hiding stuff. Hozuki family, currently they specialize in Tunnel Management I believe, agreed to support Minazukis plan. It was their protection and cover glyphs I was breaking when getting the actual agreement out. Ever since, we’re apparently in a bit of... prickly? Relationship.’

He turns to his own teammates.

‘It was Hozuki managing the Tunnel that threw me and Dai-chan into Western nest instead of in front of your barrier, Rikka.’

‘I’m pretty sure that was wishing somebody death, and not just small petty prank.’ Shiki notes consciously, although his hand is curled into a tight fist. ‘I don’t think I’ll like them.’

‘No, you won’t.’ Tsubasa agrees, but before he’s able to continue, Koi also scrunches his nose.

‘We won’t like them, too. They have a very annoying approach to Groups.’

‘More annoying than you are?’ Kakeru asks, but Koi doesn’t take the bait, instead nodding.

‘They think vampires and humans cannot coexist without a pact clearly stating who’s the top and who’s the bottom of the food chain. Obviously, they believe they deserve to be at the very top, above everyone else.’

‘It doesn’t work that way in Groups, the people and vampires joining them are too varied to have such a simple division.’ Ai adds to her brother’s talk. Shiki hums.

‘I can see that. Shu wouldn’t be running around talking with everyone if that wasn’t the case.’ he turns to Tsubasa. ‘I can see where you’re coming from. Is there something else? Before the two will come back.’

‘Beyond the fact they tried to manipulate me to drop the issue, then tried to blame me for Rui’s abduction when he disappeared for good from Minazuki household? Nah, I don’t think so.’

‘Wait, Minazuki’s manipulation is pretty... strong...’ Kakeru drifts off as Tsubasa points at his throat, where yet another glyph was shining. Or, actually glyphs, as collar of different shapes and sizes light up on Okui’s neck.

‘Yeah, and our Glyph masters are pretty good in predicting what they need to protect. Plus, I did test them on a weaker scale manipulation, because, for all their talking, Minazukis failed to see Rui developing just fine, like any ten year old vampire would.’ he answers easily. Rikka stares at him.

‘Say, Tsubasa.’ he says slowly. ‘I’ve seen a fair number of glyph improvements working on you already, but- how many you've got, actually? And, is it possible you’ve had them imbued as a teenager?’

‘...You’re not going to like the answer to either of those questions?’ Tsubasa more asks than says. ‘The general formula is that you can have more or less the same number of glyphs on you as the number of bones in your body, divided in half, right?’

‘Yeah.’ Soushi speaks up, having a Glyph master in his family himself. ‘It gives an approximate of a hundred marks per person- an adult, obviously. Most people rarely need or can withstand that number of etchings, though, that’s why we have temporary glyphs invented.’

‘Yeah, but they’re less potent.’ Tsubasa fills in. ‘While permanent etchings are restricted by your endurance, compatibility, skin surface and assigned position of each specific mark, like the truth glyph Kumo Okui invented-’

‘Tsubasa.’ Rikka once again interrupts him sweetly. ‘Are you perhaps stalling?’

‘...I hate that you know me so well.’ Tsubasa mumbles. ‘Yeah, I got most of my marks just before or during the whole affair with Minazukis, so when I was twelve to fourteen. We have a rule in our family, that kind of spread on the whole clan, that if you decide you can withstand consequences of something, you’re allowed to go through with it. Since it was the only way to make sure I will have enough advantage over the High vampires, I asked for the most useful glyphs and turned out to be pretty immune to the side-effects.’

‘And now?’

‘...I have around hundred and twenty three?’ Tsubasa once again uses intonation as if the announcement was a question. ‘Last we checked, at least.’

‘Which was?’ Rikka sighs, among stunned silence.

‘Before dispatch to the western nest.’ Tsubasa rubs back of his neck, sheepish. ‘After getting into mixed Unit, there were few procedures that could be skipped provided I could prove I have active protection against any possible manipulation, which ended up adding two, no wait, I think three glyphs, but those weren’t that big, or anything... ne, Rikka!’

He whines as his Unitmate hides his face in his hands.

‘You know, the first time I saw a glyph was on Okui Kumo.’ he says, muffled. ‘Shiki has told me it was a pretty high-level technique not everybody can pull off.’

He takes hands off of his face.

‘I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the fact I’ve known you for... how long has it been now? Half a year? More? And only now I realize you have over hundred of those on your body, sustaining them. Since being a teenager.’

‘Okay, I’m sorry for not mentioning it earlier, but... it never came up?’ Tsubasa waves his hands. ‘Besides, it has nothing to do with Dai-chan’s case!’

‘But it’s still astounding amount.’ Hajime speaks up calmly, before pointing at Yuki. ‘Even we don’t go over hundred, at least not with permanent ones.’

‘What about temporaries?’ Haru asks from above his leader pleasantly. Hajime hums, but it’s Yuki who answers.

‘We still don’t go over assigned number.’ she says, looking at Tsubasa. ‘For most people it’s not possible to go over it and still act normally.’

‘It isn’t?’ Kouki asks with surprise. Everybody looks at him. ‘Ah, I’m sorry-’

‘No, no, it’s fine.’ General speaks up. ‘I’m quite intrigued myself. Enchantments are working a bit differently on dhampires, so it’s the first time I hear about those things as well.’

‘Why did you act so surprised before, Etou-kun? Ah, Etou-san?’

‘Just Kouki is fine.’ Kouki smiles at the Procella’s younger hunter. ‘I was just surprised since, just like Okuis, our family is pretty adjusted to using permanent glyphs, and while I’m not using them personally, I’ve seen people go to the same numbers Oku- Tsubasa-san is mentioning.’

He hums thoughtfully.

‘Then again, they’re usually Legendaries...’

‘Soul Spirit Users of Mythinc and higher level take boost from the power of their Soul Spirit, though.’ consciously points out Ryota. ‘Even I and Ken have a different limit range than you and Mamoru, Kou, and it’s just a difference between Mythic and Legendary.’

‘Not that you’re going to get ahead of us because of that!’ adds Ken in a sing-song tone, and Kouki smiles.

‘Yeah, I know.’

‘O-kay, since I’m very confused right now, let me recap?’ Sora raises his hand. ‘We went from the incident six years ago that established Tsubasa-san as a genius hunter-’

‘Thanks!’

‘You’ve said it yourself first.’ grumbles Shiki. Sora ignores the exchange, used by now to Soara’s partner Unit’s antics.

‘-to the improvements that have permanent and temporary versions. Kou-sama- I mean, Kou-kun-’

Ryota and Ken snicker, while Kouki looks a bit confused.

‘-mentions Spirits that might act as upgrade to this upgrade. Did I miss something?’

‘Isn’t that our line?’ speaks the clear voice from the door, and all heads turn in this direction, with Tsubasa flashing a bright smile, and both hunters and one vampire of Procella basically jumping out of their seats.

‘Dai-chan!’

‘Rui!’

‘Don’t call me that.’ tall hunter complains, even as he gracefully sidesteps to make more space around shorter vampire he entered with, letting his teammates properly fawn over him.

‘Ikkun, too loud.’ said vampire complains, even as he patiently suffers through the shoulder grab and the nervous look overs of three other members of his Unit. ‘I’m okay. Needed to get Yamato.’

Hearing its’ name, the black cat meowed in his arms. Tsubasa leans away to see properly.

‘You still have that kitty?’

Rui looks at him, then as quickly looks away, before nodding, pressing Yamato closer to himself. The cat answers with quiet purring, and both its’ owner and people (and vampire) surrounding him smile.

‘Well, then, let’s get going, Rui.’ Dai says, and Rikka realizes it’s a tone he sometimes used when helping Rikka with a sleep-deprived Shiki. He stifles his amusement, but his Changer still grumbles, as their final member joins them and sits next to Rikka with a sigh. Procellarum retreats to their own seats, and Dai bows his head towards the General.

‘I’m sorry for stalling the meeting.’

‘It ended up clearing the air, so I’d say it was needed.’ General answers, looking between hunter and the younger vampire. ‘Did you manage to explain everything to each other, as well?’

Dai looks at Rui, who returns his stare. Neither of them smile, but both nod seriously, and General feels as if tense air was released with that simple gesture.

‘Good for you, ne, Dai-chan.’ Tsubasa says, once more leaning over the chair, and Dai huffs.

‘Don’t call me that.’ he turns to Rikka. ‘He didn’t-’

‘No, he didn’t.’ Rikka confirms, then hesitates. ‘I don’t think it’s possible to overdramatize that story, though.’

Dai frowns, but doesn’t argue, accepting water bottle from Shiki. It would be hard to, with a man who went through something as similar as Rikka.

General quickly gathers their attention on himself, and issues round of introductions.

‘I think it is all that we should have asked before starting on the topic proper to the meeting? Or does anybody have other questions?’

Koi’s hand shoots up so fast that Ai’s hair move a bit.

‘I have one!’ he turns in the direction of Solids. ‘What the heck is your guys’ relationship status?’

Dai chokes on the water he was drinking.

Rikka rushes to help him, shooting a half-irritated, half-confused glance Kisaragis’ way.

Shiki looks at the younger vampire unimpressed, while Tsubasa chuckles, disbelieving.

Ai just covers her face with her hands.

‘What even brought this one up?’ Tsubasa asks, and there’s mix of amusement and sheer confusion at the incredulity of the question. Koi huffs, before saying.

‘I thought I have a clear view of that in new Units after the Briefing, but- just now, the water bottle was Shiki-san’s, he drank from it. And Rikka-san seemed to feel pretty comforted by Tsubasa-san minutes ago. So. I’m confused!’

‘So are we.’ mutters Dai, before accidentally chorusing with Rikka. ‘Actually, it’s-’

They stop at the same moment, exchanging looks.

‘Complicated.’ smoothly fills in Shiki and Tsubasa, with Hunter adding:

‘We will tell you more, once we figure it out.’

‘Ri-what? No!?’ Rikka looks incredulously at his teammate. ‘There are things children should not listen to.’

‘I’m sorry I’m the one pointing it out, but you are not the one to talk, with parents-’ Shiki starts, but Rikka huffs.

‘Only one of them was French, excuse you. And, it was pure type of French.’

‘I’m too scared to ask.’ Dai mutters, hand on his face. Rikka looks at him and if he wasn’t a vampire, he would probably flush scarlet. As it was, his cheeks only became dusted with pink.

Which was kind of beautiful.

‘Anyway, yes. It’s complicated.’ Tsubasa says, turning back to the heir of Kisaragi group. ‘We-’

‘-will not.’ Rikka stresses. Tsubasa pouts at him.

‘Agreed.’ Dai says, but Shiki hums in denial.

‘Offering the info your opponents wants to know in a form you decide on, rather than letting them discover it on their own is also a strategic move, Rikka, Dai.’

‘Are you talking war strategy or love gossip?!’ incredulously asks Kai, but Shun hums from next to him.

‘I like both options.’

‘That’s creepy, so stop.’

General Tsukino looks over his Field forces in disbelief. There were those joining in the banter, those just dying down on the floor, be it from embarrassment or from laughing too hard, and then there was a group that looked on, just plain confused at the development of situation.

He could understand why Rui looked on with tired expression at the mess the gathering turned into, he probably tried to fall asleep the second he touched his plush cushion seat, but why was Kouki and Mamoru both in the last group as well was beyond him.

He coughs, loudly, and the gathering quietens down, people who slipped off their seats now climbing back onto them, all of them sheepish. Tsukino sighs quietly, but decides to let it go.

In those times of need, all opportunity to laugh was a good one.

‘I would like to move on to the actual topic of this meeting, if there are no more questions.’ he shoots warning look Koi’s way. ‘Good. Hanazono-kun, Tendouin-kun, the floor is yours.’

‘As you wish, General.’ both named leaders stand up with grace, before making it to the middle of the circle. Seconds later, glyph screen, a holographic-like device, is set up, showing it’s picture to everyone, regardless of the angle.

‘First, the brief conclusion to the Northern and Southern nests is that the plan turned out to be successful.’ Yuki speaks, nothing of her tone signalizing satisfaction from the mission result. ‘We’ve closed the throats and all the side pathways leading from the nests and established mechanized wards that will warn us in case of anything breaching those barriers.’

She lets the screen show two side-by-side pictures, and the room oohs in appreciation.

The mountain of pure white ice on one and dark purple crystal on the other did look impressive. Even with the screen between them, they could tell the picture was clear, and when Tsubaki pressed some buttons, it changed angles, to show a nice straight line of dark bulbs, shining in front of the two barriers.’

‘Matsuri has them connected to the alert crystals at all times, so we will be able to instantly tell if the breach happens and what region got disturbed.’ she explains, pointing at the wards.

‘Precise work as always, as expected of our goddesses~’ Shun speaks up and Tsubaki softly bows her head in his direction.

‘However.’ Yuki swipes her hand over the console device in her hand, and the screen changes. ‘We were unable to completely get rid of side-effects, meaning the Field in about kilometer radius from the barriers is close to unlivable. I don’t think normal purification will work on it.’

‘Even if it did, it would risk damaging the barrier, as it is the source of the change in environment, right?’ Sora asks, and Kouki hums in affirmative.

‘There’s also the aspect of element. Although darkness is capable of purification and other support actions, it’s in general considered a light’s domain. Ice and darkness would be at a disadvantage, even if I have no doubts about their power.’ Growth’s leader says slowly.

‘We’ve concluded the same thing. ‘Kanade, one of the Backstage Support vampires, mentions. Tsukino nods.

‘As such, we want to leave it as it is for now. It’s not like the radius is too big, either.’ he nods at the Fluna and Seleas captains. ‘I’d like you to brief us on your teams’ state next.’

Tsubaki and Yuki exchange glances, before nodding and once again sweeping across the console. The screen is filled with columns of statistics, prompting a groan out of Nozomu, Koi and Kakeru.

‘I hate advanced stats.’ grumbles Koi. Ai pats his hand compassionately, before turning to her own leader.

‘Are those-’

‘Yes, we got them just before the meeting.’ Yuki nods at her partner. ‘Those are results of examination on members of Fluna and Seleas that medics from Altair did just after our return.’

‘Obviously, it’s been two days since then, but the repeated check-ups on those who managed to get to them yesterday confirm our suspicions.’ Tsubaki calmly says, inputting something and thickening the web of information at the screen. ‘Please look at the statistic bars. We’ll use initials for each member, as it’s generalized result that we want to show you, and not the state of individuals. Those you can deal with when they agree to show you the detailed results in person.’

Everybody does as they’re asked.

‘I’ll mark in grey line the amount of core energy required to freely use Glyph Tunnel, for common reference.’ Tsubaki says, adding the horizontal line to the bar graph. ‘Now, I’m inputting the levels we were at during the last check-up before the dispatch.’

Horizontal lines in all colors of the rainbow and some additional ones appear on different heights. It’s quite visible that Fluna, consisting almost solely of vampires and dhampires, had their stats slightly higher than their counterpart, even though most of Seleas were huntresses of the High families...

‘Now, I’m going to input our current core energy status onto the graph.’ Tsubaki adds, and few swipes of fingers later, additional lines appear. ‘The ones above the Tunnel minimum are marked with blue star.’

There were terrifyingly little stars on the graph. The room was in silence as Yuki added final data.

‘Me, Tsubaki-chan, Ai, Akane-dono, Mizuki-dono and Hina-chan all managed to get repeated check-ups. Those are the results.’

While two of the Fluna and one of the Seleas stats touched and even crossed the Tunnel threshold, they were still barely above the previously input line. All of the girls shift in their seats, and Tsukino hums quietly.

‘In case of normal recovery, all of those would be well over the minimum already.’ Tsubasa noted carefully. ‘Unless-’

‘We suspect it’s that unless, Tsubasa-san.’ Tsubaki calmly points at the graphs. ‘Right before this plan was approved, we already knew two main objectives needed to be met to establish the barriers. One was the simultaneous work on two nests. Second was great amount of energy imbued into both creations.’

‘We calculated the approximate amount before we deployed and got confirmation that both Units are above it, though.’ Matsuri says slowly. Tsubaki nods.

‘Before Tunnel transport to the Field.’

‘It was accounted in calculations.’ rapidly returns Kurisu. ‘Although...’

Her own leader nods.

‘We didn’t predict the resistance of the unpurified Field.’ she says. ‘Well, even if we did, any purification would be impossible without alerting the monsters in the nest, and that in turn would probably rouse them to fight us, which would end up in even bigger energy loss. No matter now. Me and Tsubaki acted as transfer devices, so we can say for sure the amount of energy was higher than the approximate, with the effect being normal.’

‘That normal is still incredibly impressive, though.’ Kai says, his hand automatically petting Rui, curled on the seat between him and Iku. Tsubaki inclines her head to him, before continuing.

‘The recovery speed suggests it was too much energy depleted at once, though. Our cores aren’t permanently damaged.’ she quickly adds, noticing visible paling of her teammates and few other members. ‘But, they need more time to regenerate themselves before regenerating the energy we use in battle.’

‘Question, Tsubaki.’ Mizuki raises her hand. ‘Yours and Hanazono’s levels are naturally higher than us, so I presume that’s why they’re already past the Tunnel minimum, even though you poured all of that,’ she shudders, ‘well, that everything into the barriers. But, you and Hanazono also have a higher regeneration level, compared to us. I don’t think it has to do with your heritages, Himekawa is just slightly younger clan than Hanazono, and I’m pretty positive Hina is also from a family of comparable status to yours.’

‘Oh, in my case the answer is easy.’ Tsubaki says lightly, and all of the room focuses on her, hoping for discovering a way to speed up the healing of two Special Units. ‘After the first check up, I had an opportunity to meet Hajime-sama.’

The room flops like one, audible groan coming from the Youngest pair in Fluna.

‘I forgot she gets like that...’ Kurisu whines softly, but is interrupted by the clapping sound.

‘I get it, I totally get it! Interacting with Hajime is giving you surprising amounts of energuy, isn’t it?’ Procellarum’s leader speaks up, eyes shining, and Tsubaki nods seriously, having found his kin. Kai chuckles, sheepish.

‘I keep forgetting Procella isn’t the only one suffering from the leader being...urk, being like this.’

‘Well, but it’s actually a plausible argument in my case.’ Yuki speaks slowly, as the two albino vampires get interrupted in their mutual hyping up by her cousin. ‘Although Hanazono family is as young as Himekawa, we have a relation to Mutsukis, and those-’

‘Riight.’ Arata drawls on in understanding.

Haru turns to the Solids and Alive Units.

‘Mutsukis are known for incomprehensible amounts of energy their cores are capable of producing. Our leader is an outlier even in that aspect, though.’ he explains, prompting said leader to huff.

‘Haru. Don’t treat me like a rare exhibition object needing hyping, please.’ he looks pointedly at Solids. ‘Besides, I’m not the one who almost melted Tsukino training room security glyphs.’

‘We did?’ Shiki blinks. ‘Sorry, when Songs get rolling it’s hard to figure out where to stop.’

‘The point of this conversation is,’ Tsukino speaks up over few soft snorts, ‘while Fluna and Seleas are back with us in one piece, I want them to be provided with maximum regeneration time. That means, I will still have you boys cover the Field, like we did previously.

He looks over them, his eyes staying for a bit longer on Solids.

‘While the northern and southern nests won’t be a problem in the closest future, there’s still unguarded eastern nest and western, that might also be at risk of getting more attacks now, that the other two spots were closed off to our enemies.’ he says, and Rikka nods. Tsukino looks pleased. ‘I hope that, with internal affairs cleared up, we can work together to protect the shelters until we’re back to full power, when we might start thinking about dealing with the Marionettes- for good, this time.’

‘Yes, sir!’ is his answer. In a chorus of over thirty -strong- fighters’ voices, it carries surprising amount of reassurance. Tsukino really wished that this time, he could let the spark of hope ignite and change into a firm flame in his chest. He nods.

‘Then, I will see you on another team meeting, whenever that is. Dismissed!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Eichi's grandparents are canonically from Aomori. For those unsure where it is, it's one of the northern prefectures of Japan, just at the bottomside of the Hokkaido island, they're famous for their apples.
> 
> 2\. I don't remember if English also had an idiom 'don't praise the day before sunset'? It basically means not to get too far ahead with your hopes, Tsubaki uses the reverse bc I presume vampires had at one point lived only during the night, and some of their sayings reflect that past.
> 
> 3\. Did I really google number of bones in human body for this chapter? Why yes, yes I did.
> 
> 4.If you're one of those unlucky ppl who got a notification about new chapter before publication of this one, I'm so sorry, I've been messing with one of the future arcs and hit post instead of save as draft OTL.
> 
> Also, in case you didn't realize just yet, that's the chapter from which Because you are is going to join in the Universe! We're jumping between Hokkaido and Tokyo a bit, but oh well! I need more fluff in this universe, so it's a good thing the babies join in! (Will post first chapter in about an hour? Since BYA technically starts a bit later than this chapter...)


	4. Parallel Lineage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had such a problem choosing title for this one *sweats* I wanted to stop giving the chapter titles of SolidS songs, but at the same time, Cross Notes was the best I could come up with, and then I kept changing the titles until I remembered this one existed, lol.  
> Anyway, we're back to (slightly) shorter chapters, I think this is somewhere around 7k? I guess chapter length will oscillate between 6 and 7k, occassionally going up to 10 (like in the next one...).  
> For now, enjoy a patchwork that makes this chapter!

‘Still- Shiki, I swear, if you’re going to Compose, at least do it after we get back!’ Tsubasa turns to his leader, but Shiki just grunts. Rikka sighs.

They’re still in the gathering room, with each Unit slowly retreating to their own tasks, chatting and exchanging thoughts.

‘I think he’s already in Composer mode, Tsubasa. It’s not going to be easy to stop him now, it’s like a carnal urge at this point.’

‘I understand~’Mamoru pipes in, empathetic, from next to rest of Growth. ‘You’d think with Kou-kun next to myself, the seal would mute the need, but nope~ even holding back from Composing during meetings is hard!’

‘Oh! I know it, I know it well! Then you get in a bind, because you hear Unit Song, then a Duet, then a Solo, and you want to Compose all of them at once!’ Sora adds in from somewhere within Soara huddle, and Shiki huffs, surprisingly managing to hide the paper after scribbling just few phrases and notes next to them.

‘That’s actually because your Muses are next to you, and you still haven’t learned how to reign the urge they cause in.’

‘Muses?’ choruses not only the other Composers, but also half of the room still present.

Shiki looks around, before looking at Tsukino.

‘You brought it upon yourself.’ his General huffs, checking some files Backstage Support members were offering him. ‘You keep forgetting you were extremely lucky to have your Singer be brought up with extensive knowledge of music.’

‘But even that Singer hears about Muse for the first time. Well, because I presume you don’t mean the ancient goddesses of art.’ Tsubasa consciously points out.

Shiki huffs again.

‘The name came from them, although the position kind of denies their nature. In ancient times, there were multiple Muses, while Composer can only have one at a time.’

‘Okay, but what-’

‘Who.’ Shiki corrects Sora. ‘It’s... a living inspiration? You could say. According to my family's records, it’s almost always a Singer connected to the Composer. Spending time together makes you completely overwhelmed with a need to write. It’s pretty useful for getting over block, once you learn how to manage it.’

‘Why is that the first time we hear about it?’ Rikka asks, and Tsubasa and Dai look at him in shock.

‘You also didn’t-’

‘Nope.’

‘...Because it didn’t came up?’ Shiki asks, and Rikka smiles. People standing on both his sides back away carefully. ‘And because I’m figuring it out myself still?’

‘...oh.’ danger levels visibly fell in the room. ‘I see. Do we need to-?’

‘Nah, it’s fine.’ Shiki’s eyes strain to Koi, before he sighs in frustration. ‘The thing about Muse is, your emotions also might get amplified for that person, and-’

‘Oh.’ Ryota and Kensuke chorus. Then, they look at Kouki. ‘It’s decided, then.’

Tsubasa snorts softly at the baffled expression of Growth’s leader, and red face of its’ Composer.

‘Yeah, it kinda is.’

Soushi hums, looking between Mori and Sora.

‘I think I have it figured out here, as well.’ he says, and Ren smiles sheepish, as other vampires from Soara turn to him for reasoning of his Guardian’s words.

‘I think... I agree with Sou-nii.’

‘But I-’ Sora starts.

‘But we-’at the same time says Mori, before the two stop to look at each other. Soushi hums.

‘Considering Sora’s way of dealing with his talent in our childhood, it’s a very good thing I’m not it.’

‘I’m rather worried about that „way of dealing with the talent” but since it’s apparently a thing of past, I’ll let it slip.’ Shiki says slowly, measuring the youngest Composer with unsettling stare. Which Sora returns with a grin.

‘Yep, totally in the past, thanks to those guys!’ He slings his arms over Ren and Mori, who stood closest to him, and points at Nozomu and Soushi. Shiki hums. ‘Then, since we have it figured out, although I want a word still, Kagurazaka-kun, who’s most likely it for Solids?’

Older Unit exchange glances. Shiki opens his mouth.

‘It’s complicated.’ Dai, Rikka and Tsubasa chorus.

Shiki closes his mouth.

‘But, that’s not exciting at all!’ Sora whines. ‘Rikka-san, you were with Shiki-san the longest, can’t it be you’re it?’

‘He was.’ Shiki confirms, and Rikka blinks.

‘But, I’ve almost always were on the way? Plus, aren’t you lately working with Tsubasa in the room, mostly?’

‘I do, he is, too.’ Shiki confirms. Then makes eye contact with Dai. ‘Dai was, too.’

‘Wait a moment.’ Mamoru slowly raises his hand. ‘Didn’t you say there can be only one Muse at the time?’

‘That’s why I’ve said it’s complicated.’ Shiki sighs.

‘Technically speaking, we did.’ Tsubasa corrects, and Shiki glares. ‘I’d risk a thesis Darling's Muse position is rotating?’

There’s a silence in the group, as everybody digest the suggestion, before ‘oooh’ing.

‘Conditional Muse, then?’ Morihito says, hand near his lips in thought. ‘Depending on the conditions met, the position travel between all members of Solids?’

‘All members not me.’ Shiki consciously corrects. ‘Composer cannot be his own Muse. Not sure if he can be other Composer’s Muse, though.’

‘Rotation...conditional...’ Tsubasa says, his eyes idly running between the vampire and the sheets in his hand. He then snaps his fingers. ‘I’ve got it! I think.’

‘You’ve got what?’ suspiciously asks Shiki, tighter gripping at the scoresheet. Tsubasa grins easily.

‘Who did you imagine while writing that?’

‘Where it came from.’ Shiki grumbles. Tsubasa waves his hand.

‘Okay then, who did you imagine when writing „Shall we dance”?’

‘...Dai.’ Shiki reluctantly admits after catching eyes of said hunter. ‘Or rather, Dai with Rikka.They’re Sing-’

‘But first instinct you had was to name Dai-chan~ There you have it.’ Tsubasa says proudly. ‘Condition for Muse rotation.’

‘...Muse depends on a Song?’ Rikka asks, catching on to Tsubasa’s suggestion. When hunter nods, he hums. ‘I guess it would make sense... although it still doesn’t explain much about Muse in case of the Unit Songs, as all of us can be it. We'd need to analyze traits of the Song and fit them to a Singer, maybe...’

‘Perhaps we should move this talk elsewhere, though?’ Dai finally speaks up. ‘We’re the last ones.’

‘Oh, don’t mind us.’ General Tsukino speaks up from above yet another document, but they can hear his amusement. ‘Muse talk doesn’t really regard me, but it’s interesting to see Shiki getting his tongue pulled by what he considers children.’

‘General.’ Shiki speaks, pointedly ignoring snickers from Tsubasa and Rikka, and quirk of Dai's lips. ‘I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention I’m the oldest out of everyone in this room.’

‘Hey, I’m alive still!’ protests one of the backstage vampires, Kurotsuki Dai, with a laugh.

‘The oldest in active Field operatives, then. And also oldest of the involved Composers.’

‘So far you’re the only one repeating the fact, though?’ Tsukino chuckles, ‘Okay, then, I will not bother you more. You’re free for the rest of the day, provided-’

He’s cut off by the blinking of the red light on the side of the table in front of which he was sitting.

‘-that doesn’t happen.’ he sighs, before reaching out for the contact glyphstone. ‘Mochizuki, send the details to Kanade, I’m with him and the standby Units. Hm? Oh. Okay. Understood.’

‘Etou-kun.’ he calls out after disconnecting, and Growth’s leader straightens.

‘Sir?’

‘Your forces request help in investigation in region seventeen.’ Kouki blinks, and Tsukino waves. ‘While obviously we will prioritize outside requests, we still respect and add requests from your families as the second most important missions in the roster. That’s the agreement letting us survive with this many heirs in our ranks.’

‘I see.’ Kouki nods, before asking. ‘Who’s the one in command of the case?’

‘A guy known as Kikihito?’ Tsukino frowns, but Kouki nods, before turning to the rest of Growth.

‘Get ready, I’ll try to find out the details. We’ll meet in the Organization’s dispatch point in twenty minutes.’

‘Got it.’ Growth choruses, before taking off in the directiton of their headquarters.

Kouki sighs softly, the merry atmosphere from Composers’ discussion gone in an instant.

‘I hope it’s nothing serious...’ he pauses, noticing as Solids rearrange themselves. Tsubasa catches his eye.

‘It’s a bit early, but, region seventeen is actually pretty close to the western nest, right?’ he explains. ‘Rikka needs to check that barrier anyway, so. We can at least dispatch together, and in case you become in need of a power-up, we should be nearby.’

Kouki just smiles.

‘We’ll appreciate it.’

*

‘Rui, are you really okay?’ Iku asks again, looking at his partner, cuddling the black cat in his arms even as one hand also tugs at the back of Kai’s shirt, older hunter not even bothered enough to address it. Iku is pretty sure that, had Rui had three hands, he would be grasping at Iku's palm as well.

Rui nods.

‘It had been... a lot. Just that.’

‘Good a lot, or bad a lot?’ Yoru tries to specify, and Iku is grateful. He feels like he shouldn’t intrude on the other’s issue more, breaching the trust Rui put in him when naming him his second Guardian.

Rui stops.

‘Dai is my victim, not my foe.’ he states slowly, prompting literally all of Procellarum to stop on their way to their dorms. ‘At least, it was what I thought until today.’

‘You don’t think it anymore?’ Kai asks slowly, and Rui shakes his head.

‘I... think I still do. A bit. But, he doesn’t.’ he smiles, minimally. ‘And I’m glad. And sleepy.’

‘That sounds just like you.’ Kai laughs. ‘Alright, let’s get back to the dorms, you can tell us a bit more about Dai on the way, and maybe today, you won’t have nightmares.’

‘Kai, you’re similar to Dai.’ Rui notes, but he continues the walk. ‘Ikkun, too.’

‘Because we’re human?’ Iku asks, confused, but Rui shakes his head.

‘Because you’re warm.’

‘It’s nice to hear you say it~ that being said, next time can you not go and disappear mid-case you yourself issued?’ comes the voice from behind them, and all of the Special Unit turn, then instinctively comes closer together around Rui.

Tsubasa huffs, leaning against the wall.

‘Jeez, and Darling says I am overprotective.’ he waves his hand. ‘I thought I’ve told you there’s no hard feelings between me and that particular Minazuki.’

‘Sorry, that’s instinct.’ Kai answers, arm not leaving Rui’s shoulder, ready to pull him behind himself. ‘Any issue regarding our Youngest is kinda sensitive topic.’

‘Alright, I can relate to that.’ Tsubasa agrees, before making a quick eye contact with Rui. ‘That’s why, Rui, don’t go disappearing on your uncles again? It feels like being left on read by a cute girl.’

‘Why is this comparison relatable...’ mutters You, before shrinking under Yoru’s glare.

‘Did you need anything else, Okui-san?’ Middle Group’s vampire then asks. ‘I figure if you chased after us this far...’

‘Ah, no, just a quick question to your leader.’ Tsubasa grins, then looks confused as all of Procellarum tense up. ‘What?’

‘Those never end well.’ Kai answers before Shun can even open his mouth. His partner huffs.

‘Kai, so mean! I’m always perfectly ready to confer, especially if the topic of the talk would be somehow related to Hajime-’

‘Sorry, we can go at it another time, today is a personal questions' day.’ Tsubasa quickly says, before asking. ‘Are we related?’

‘Quick and straight to the point, which I appreciate, but- what?!’ You asks the question most of Procella had on their mind. 'Where did that even come from?!’

In answer, Tsubasa points to his eyes, and Shun ‘ooh~’s, before smiling.

‘Which part?’

‘I think one hundred twenty eighth? Tsubasa answers after moment of pondering. ‘He was my great-great-great-grandfather, if I count the generations correctly.’

‘I see~’ Shun claps his hands. ‘I’m a bit further down the line, so amped by your one hundred twenty eight... well the answer is yes, but in what amount...’

‘Not meaningful.’ Tsubasa says. ‘Well, but I was right, so, for now I’m good!’

‘What is this about?’ Iku quietly asks Kai, but the older hunter also has a look of confusion on his face.

It’s Rui who explains the talk to them.

‘Oh, the ancestry.’ he looks at Shun. ‘I didn’t know Shimotsukis had a Wanderer in the family?’

‘Because it was a long time ago. So long, in fact, that if I hadn’t inherited those eyes, we might have forgotten all about it~’ Shun answers with a smile. ‘I’m more surprised a hunter family like Okuis admit to it so easily.’

‘What can I say? Love is love.’ Tsubasa returns with a grin and an easy shrug of his shoulders. ‘As I said, I’m only one hundred twenty eighth part a Wanderer, so it practically doesn’t regard me anymore. We’ve had bright coloring also in our human genes, so~’

‘Tsubasa? We’re dispatching in a moment!’ there’s a call from behind a hunter, and Tsubasa looks into corridor next to himself.

‘Coming!’ he calls, before turning back to the Special Unit. ‘Sorry for holding you back, Rikka calls me now, so I gotta go.’

‘There was a dispatch order?’ Yoru asks, worried, but Tsubasa shakes his head.

‘For Growth, and apparently it was only a minor issue in Etou’s domain they needed an Heir for. We’re going to check on western nest and its’ barrier, just in case the thing from the meeting becomes the reality and attacks on it become more frequent. We both should be back tomorrow, and probably not even tired enough to go into Recovery, so all is good~’

‘I see.’ Yoru sighs in quiet relief. ‘Then, good luck on your mission.’

‘Thanks, will see you around the base, hopefully, and this time not after more than a month!’ Tsubasa waves his hand, before disappearing behind the corner, just as another, more impatient call resounds from that direction. You hums.

‘Strange guy.’

‘But seems alright.’ decides Kai, side-eyeing Shun, still smiling in a relaxed way. His leader nods, observing their Youngest Pair. Rui let go of Kai’s shirt, and moved Yamato into that hand. The other, he has twined with Iku’s, younger hunter smiling at his partner.

‘It will be nice if we can become friends, right?’

Rui just nods.

*

General Tsukino huffs, once the bulb in front of his desk starts blinking, but he reaches for the communication glyphstone nonetheless.

It has been just two days after the meeting, and while the first tentative reports from Altair were pretty optimistic regarding recovery time of Fluna and Seleas, they still gave them at least two months out of commission. Which, for Special Unit, was an eternity. Of course, girls already found ways to actively engage despite their inability to fight, but.

The Field also found ways to remind them they were still living in a post-world-end situation.

This time, however, the message held a bit more hopeful note to it.

‘Kanade? What it is?’

‘I was contacted by Izumi group’s representative. Shu-san requests a meeting with you.’

Tsukino blinks. What made the future leader of the Shield Unit reach through the messengers?

‘Has he said anything else?’

‘Only that his head looked excited.’ Kanade seems to share his confusion. ‘And that he feels like it’s more good than bad news.'

Tsukino hums.

‘Tomorrow is the day monthly general Field report comes out. I feel like I will need good messages by then, so fit him in my schedule, alright?’

‘Understood, sir.’ there’s a moment of pause. ‘Sir? Do you think it might be-’

‘It would be the best news of the week, Kanade.’ Tsukino sighs. ‘But I’ve learned not to expect a lot of the future. At best, I’ll get pleasantly surprised.’

Unbeknownst to both dhampire and a vampire serving under him, the two lives they were to meet tomorrow were already sleeping in the same shelter, preparing to bring them those best news they hoped for.

*

As always, once you were summoned to the outside, the matters that will come up will never end.

Kouki is slowly becoming much more aware of that fact now, after fourth dispatch in two weeks since the general meeting, all of them ending in Growth landing in outer sector of Etou domain. It was still good that this one here was in sector twenty two, this one further away from the western nest than seventeen, meaning at least Rikka-san’s barrier was safe from any possible dangers, but...

But that didn’t mean they were any closer to figuriing out just WHAT in the world has happened there.

‘So, let me recap.’ Kensuke, sitting in front of the Bird Spirit Users of the region, doubling as its’ scouts, says, ‘You’ve been blocked from entering your regular patrolling route mid-air. Nothing came up from the airborne check-ups.’

‘And yet, you didn’t call for the help of earth sensors.’ Ryota mutters from besides Kouki.

‘Ryo, I would get to it, eventually.’ Kensuke sweatdrops. 'It’s not like we should depend on you guys for every little thing, right?’

‘This doesn’t seem little, though.’ Ryota says dryly, ignoring the way feathers ruffle on the backs of the patrolmen and women. He looks over to the group of currently smug-looking earth Soul Spirit Users. ‘And you aren’t any better. You didn’t even think about intervening? Offering help? Reasoning?’

The smug looks get wiped away just like that, but Kouki just sighs. While Ryota’s judgement was harsh and just, judging both sides for their inability to work together in time of crisis, it didn’t bring them any closer to solving the problem.

‘Kouki.’ Ryota turns to him, ‘From the looks of it, the best course of action would be to inspect the issue ourselves, but what do you want to do?’

Using his full name in official situations wasn’t completely necessary, but both Ryota and Kensuke still did it whenever the issue seemed tense, or stressed them out.

In this case, he suspected it was both.

‘I agree, we should check it out. Maybe simultaneously checking both ground and air will give us a clue as to what is the problem. Self-creating barriers are common on the Field, but most of this sector was purified specifically to avoid such phenomena from appearing while we have people living there. Ken.’

‘Got it.’ his retainer turns to the group of Bird Spirit Users. ‘Let Izuku lead us to where he first experienced it.’

They spur into action, calling for the first scout who reported the issue, meanwhile Ryota gives few simple orders for the ground Users to keep the connection with the main shelter. Kouki feels pull at his sleeve, and turns to mostly confused Mamoru.

‘Is this also because of what you’ve told me? The earth and air not mixing well?’

Kouki sighs with a nod.

‘Unfortunately. It’s good when the rivalry just spurs on further development, but most of the time it’s like this.’ he points at the two completely separate forces shooting distrustful looks each other’s way. ‘Obviously they could go and actively interfere with each other’s work, that would be the worst stage, and in general is completely not tolerated, at least not in Etou domain.’

‘I see.’ Mamoru looks between all of his Singers. ‘Then the way how Kou-kun stays out of it, and the way Ryo-kun and Ken-kun keep cooperating is not normal?’

Kensuke and Ryota, catching the last part, snort.

‘It is the best way to be „not normal”, but yes.’ Kouki says with a smile. ‘The rivalry that doesn’t get in the way of cooperation is the ideal relationship between air and ground.’

His retainers smile.

‘And Kou-kun?’

‘What me?’ Kouki blinks at Mamoru.

‘Why aren’t you leaning towards either side?’ Mamoru rephrases himself. ‘It’s a great skill for a commander, but I can’t help but wonder.’

‘Hm.’ Kouki tilts his head in thought. ‘I’ve never considered that? Maybe it’s because Aesodius feels equal part like earth and air-dweller. It just feels unfair to favor one side.’

He blinks, as all of his Unitmates snort softly.

‘As expected of Kou.’ Kens sighs fondly, and it’s at that time Izuku enters the room in the town hall of the shelter they were waiting at.

‘Etou-sama.’

‘Let’s go.’ Kouki nods at the middle-aged man, and all of Growth follows him and the scout out. Mamoru squints his eyes a bit in the sun, but, when Kensuke asks him if he’s alright, he waves the concern off:

‘I live with Kou-kun, after all. A bit of the sun is nothing!’

‘As always, you make no sense.’ Kouki laughs, not aware of understanding looks his retainers throw to Mamoru behind his back.

They walk through the small town shelter, passing the children with studs of feathers on their backs, and other running around, tails of different shapes and textures waggling behind them. Mamoru soaks in the peaceful atmosphere, looking around, apparently not really bothered by the lack of vampires around.

‘Say, were there another vampire village around?’ Ken leans towards Ryota, but his counterpart slowly shakes his head.

‘It would be pointless, barely twenty five percent of Soul Spirits present in vampires?’ he says the thing both of them have learned as a part of their retainer education. ‘They always live together with us, it’s also easier to make sure they get enough blood without killing anybody like that, right?’

‘Riiight.’ Kensuke looks around once again, but no, true to his previous observations, Mamoru was the only vampire in direct proximity.

‘The previous villages we visited looked like that as well, right?’ he confirms and Ryota hums.

‘The grandma I talked with in the last one has said her vampire neighbour moved to the bigger shelter... maybe they’re moving closer to the Spine from here, too. It is a faraway town. If there will be an attack from the nest, it will be one of the first targets.’

‘Eh? No way!’ exclaims Mamoru from behind them. ‘Even though it’s so peaceful...right...now...’

‘You know best, don’t you.’ Ryota side-eyes the vampire currently having a crestfallen look of realization. ‘It was why we had to evacuate you in the first place.’

Mamoru doesn’t answer, and soon, they reach the border of the shelter, an invisible glyph barrier through which children easily ran back and forth, never getting past the line of thick bushes few metres away from it, though. It was for a reason; the plants benefited from the protective properties and regular purification of the shelter, but they still looked dark and looming. Children probably instinctively knew their danger is higher than the allure of disobeying adults by going into it.

It doesn’t concern the scout, for he releases his grey wings, before looking questioningly at Kensuke and Kouki, and pointedly ignoring Ryota and Mamoru.

‘Shall we?’

‘Is there an uphill or any rise in the ground near the spot?’ returns Kouki, and the scout blinks in confusion.

‘I’m not sure.’

Kouki sighs, and the grey wings seem to shrink at the disappointment.

‘We really need to issue request to train ground awareness in airborne scouts.’ Aesodius' vessel mutters softly. Ryota hides his snicker, before coming to his leader.

‘Kouki, send Ken out with Izuku-san. I’ll use him as a reference to guide us to the most appropriate place closest to the abnormality.’

Kouki ponders for a second, before checking with Kensuke. His other retainer shrugs.

‘We trained to be able to do that for situations like this.’ he points out, and Kouki nods.

‘Since we’re effectively going out onto Field, I need you to release up to fourth Level.’ he informs his retainers, before turning to Mamoru. ‘Stay close to me so I can also release your power, just in case.’

Mamoru nods, and moves to be just behind Kouki’s back, while to both his sides, Kensuke and Ryota adapted to the traits of their Spirits emerging with the release of Levels. Then, he observes as Ryota moves towards Kensuke, and Bird Spirit User curls his wings slightly towards the other. From outside, it seems as if Ryota, eyes now closed in focus, and Kensuke just touched each others’ hand, but Mamoru becomes suddenly aware of the visible pressure of earth energy around Kensuke’s wrist. Then, Ryota opens his eyes, and his irises focus on Kensuke's features for a moment.

‘Target locked.’

Kensuke sweatdrops.

‘Can you please stop using terminology as if I was about to get eaten?’

‘Maybe.’ Ryota smirks, before making a movement to separate, then stopping, as Kensuke’s fingers curl around his hand. ‘Ken?’

‘Watch out for Kou and Mamoru for me?’ Kensuke asks, and Ryota huffs.

‘As if that wasn’t obvious.’

‘Etou-sama isn’t joining us?’ Izuku interrupts with surprise, and Ryota measures him with an unamused look.

‘He needs to stay with Mamoru, and since his Spirit is mostly an Earth-dweller...’ Kensuke explains to the confused scout. ‘Then, shall we? Since I have one certain snake’s eyes on me already.’

‘Ah, yes, of course.’ Izuku turns from measuring Mamoru with a judgemental look (vampire breathes a sigh of relief), and opens his wings once more. ‘The eastern winds are unusually strong lately up there, so please be careful.’

‘Got it!’ Ken calls, jumping into air after the man.

Ryota waits until two Bird Spirit Users reach certain altitude, before choosing the seemingly invisible path into the woods, Kouki and Mamoru following after him.

It takes them about ten minutes of march, but they eventually get to a clearing with quite obvious rise on the ground, and upon looking up, they can see two birdlike figures circling above it patiently.

Ryota raises his hand, and one of the shapes dives down. Seconds later, gust of wind pushes their hair away, as Kensuke lands in front of them, then without much preamble, turns and points to their left.

‘According to Izuku-san, the barrier rose at around two hundred meters, so in a straight line from here, it will be four hundred.’ he turns to Ryota. ‘Can you work with that?’

Ryota looks at him unimpressed.

‘It’s not even half a kilometer, and we’re still in the radius of afterwaves of shelter purification. There’s no way I can’t.’

‘Thought so~’ Kensuke grins. ‘That’s why I thought that place looks promising.’

He becomes serious, as he turns to Kouki.

‘Izuku-san mentioned trying to fly under and around it. Nothing worked. It seems to be a sphere of sorts.’

‘Sphere, huh...’ Kouki ponders on it for a while, before asking. ‘Think you can try to trigger it? I’ll have Ryo checking the ground at the same time.’

‘Got it.’ Kensuke nods and opens his wings.

‘Ken?’ Kouki stops him. ‘Be careful.’

His retainer just grins, before taking off.

‘Kou, is something wrong?’ Ryota asks, but Kouki just shakes his head slowly.

‘I just... have a bad feeling about this.’

Ryota hums, watching his leader for a moment, before snapping his eyes to the Bird Spirit User still gaining altitude. ‘Let’s get on that hill, I want to check our surroundings before they try to trigger it.’

‘Alright.’

The grass is tall, and mostly untrampled, a visible sign of them being already outside of the livable part of the shelter's surroundings. Once they reach the part that is closest to the sky, in Ryota’s opinion, Serpent’s vessel kneels down, pressing his hand into the ground, while Mamoru looks around, mesmerized.

‘I might write another Song with surroundings like this.’ he says, prompting Kouki to smile.

It didn’t matter where they were, music was always on Composers’ minds.

‘Kou, let Ken know I have the earth mapped down.’ Ryota says, not rising from his position.

‘Any signs of-’ Kouki stops as his retainer nods.

‘I want to confirm with an active barrier, though.’

‘Alright.’ Kouki looks up and reaches to his connection with his other retainer. ‘Ken, you can start whenever you’re ready.’

One of the shapes in the sky waves a hand, before the two turn and move in one direction. Seconds later they stop, as if spread on the invisible wall. Simultaneously, Ryota hisses in quiet worry.

‘I knew it.’ Ryota looks up. ‘Can they check the apex?’

Kouki passes the request forward, and two shapes raise few metres up, before suddenly moving forward. Ryota nods to himself.

‘It’s this.’ he confirms, while Kouki calls two Bird Users back. ‘The ball sphere.’

‘Ball?’ Mamoru repeats.

‘It’s a spherical protection that digs into ground, closing underneath it, on a certain depth.’ Ryota explains as two scouts land nearby. ‘I think this one’s about one fourth underground, comparing with the height Ken got to.’

‘But, sphericals don’t appear in Field on their own.’ Kensuke protests slowly. ‘Which would mean...’

Ryota nods.

‘I’m trying to figure out core signature of it as we speak, but it’s...hard... it feels like it has none.’

‘That’s what we’ve been saying from the star-’ Izuku looks pretty smug, watching the droplet of sweat trickling onto white scales growing out onto Ryota’s cheeks and up, towards his nose and forehead, as Kouki’s retainer reaches deeper into his power to strengthen his sensory reception.

‘Think you will get something from the reference point at the apex?’ Kensuke asks, interrupting other Bird Soul Spirit User. Ryota huffs.

‘We can try. Definitely won’t make matters worse.’

‘Got it. Gather power, I’ll be at the point in thirty seconds.’ with that Roc takes off, his wings growing out slightly, as Kensuke also reaches deeper into his Soul Core. Izuku just stares after him.

‘Retainer’s job is not to prove superiority over others,’ Kouki says to the scout, ‘but to figure out the best way of action that will allow us to resolve the problem.’

Izuku flushes red, but before he’s able to say something, Ryota bows his head again, then sharply draws in a breath, and at the same time, Mamoru shudders next to Kouki.

‘Kou, call Ken back.’ Ryota says in a neutral tone. ‘I’ve got it.’

Kouki nods, and when Kensuke lands next to them with a thud, asks:

‘What you’ve figured out?’

‘Two things.’ Ryota slowly gets up, eyes changed to serpent-like slits. ‘One, the good one: there’s a source of the barrier, and once we get rid of it, the Field should return to normal.’

‘Okay, so, why aren’t-’ Izuku starts, but Kensuke once again interrupts him.

‘Whenever you say two things, the other is bad news, Ryo. So, spill it out.’ he side-eyes Mamoru. ‘Though I have a really bad feeling about it.’

‘Good instinct.’ Ryota sighs. ‘The source is a group of Marionettes, covered in a sphere made by a Puppetmaster.’

*

‘In short, Growth requests reinforcements, as it’s the new pattern of action, and they will probably get in trouble with just regional forces.’ Tsubasa sums up. ‘I knew Etou is a smart kid, but damn, that’s bordering on precognition. He’ll go far.’

They stand in front of the Tunnel currently being directed towards the region twenty two of Etou domain, with Tsukino wryly smiling at the comment.

‘This region is a bit away from the main family of Etous, so their forces are still split along the old divisions like earth and air, apparently. It’s not a very far-fetched assumption to find them unable to cooperate in crisis, even with leaders used to it like Yaegashi-kun and Sakuraba-kun.’

Tsubasa groans.

‘Of course, because having people and vampires, then normals and weirdos wasn’t enough, add another division, sure. Might as well disband the shelters and establish battle royale, where survivors get to sacrifice corpses of their dead comrades and enemies to the Puppetmaster.’

‘Hard time at the High meeting, Tsubasa?’ Rikka asks. ‘You usually aren’t this bitter-’

‘You’d be too, if the High meetings of the vampires ended up in general insult show after figuring out a plan of action to a grand total of two problems!’ Tsubasa says exasperated, but Shiki hums.

‘You’re ahead of us, then, last meeting ended up being productive for the duration of one problem.’

Dai and Tsubasa stare at their counterparts, then turn to Tsukino like one.

‘How in the world the Spine is still working.’

Dhampire shrugs helplessly.

‘I focus on the matters threatening us from the outside, and patch up whatever rips happen inside real-time. I have no idea how inner politics haven’t blown up in our faces just yet.’ he explains, and Dai and Rikka nod slowly. Shiki hums.

‘If I pass to Keito that the meet of humans was more productive than ours, they should get something done out of spite.’

Rikka stares.

‘You want to say our politics are hanging on the sheer power of spite?’

Tsubasa hums.

'Then, I need to warn our guys to get their shit together, because vampires are showing tremendous upgrades in terms of cooperation.'

Dai stares as the two Highs exchange satisfied grins.

'You want to tell me the rivalry on who's better at getting their act together is the only way our leading politicians can be made to work together?!'

‘I think you should go, before I decide it’s a good idea to stage a coup.’ decisively says Tsukino. ‘Growth waits for your support.’

All of Solids throw judging looks his way.

‘What?’

‘We were just measuring if the coup would change anything.’ easily admits Tsubasa. ‘Okay, okay, we go now!’

Tsukino just sighs, as Solids disappear in the Tunnel entrance.

He was pretty sure they were joking like him, but...

The fact he read in their eyes that it was completely possible to stage a rebellion in shelters was terrifying.

*

They land in the town hall of the shelter, with two Soul Spirit Users nervously reporting to them the second Tsubasa requested an update.

Growth send a messenger as soon as they figured out what the anomaly was hiding. The barrier moved extremely slowly, but definitely in the direction of the shelter, so Etou-sama ordered preparations for temporary evacuation. Growth decided to move a bit further away from the shelter to act as a decoy in case Puppetmaster decides to speed up, not that the Soul Spirit Users know how they would manage to distract those monsters...

‘With their Songs, obviously.’ absentmindedly says Shiki, scanning the air. ‘Which they have yet to start, but Fujimura’s presence is already clear.’

‘Meaning?’ Dai asks stiffly.

‘That we better hurry up, I guess.’ Tsubasa says, before waving off the Spirit Users. ‘It’s fine, we’ll find the way ourselves, but. If you don’t get any message from Growth or us in...’

‘Fifteen.’ Rikka quietly advises, and Tsubasa nods.

‘Fifteen minutes, start the evacuation. Don’t stall too much, if it’s a new foe, we might be really in a bind on that one.’

Spirit Users reluctantly nod and let them pass, after wishing them luck, pointing them to the easiest way out of the shelter.

‘Where to now?’ Dai asks, once they reach glyph border. Shiki mutely takes the lead, following the cue of music. Soon, he doesn’t need it, though, for the screech is audible and familiar to all of them. Answering it is a quick, almost dance-like melody.

‘Lucretia!’ Shiki drops the title even as all of them switch into battle mode, and the first Marionette that finds itself in their sight is burnt by all four flames. Burning much brighter, now that they entered within Growth’s Song’s reach, and Rikka lets himself be overtaken with his fighting instincts, his pulse matching tempo of the quick, intense Song.

The Marionettes react like they always do - by slowly changing direction, changing targets, and before they can rearrange their formation, Solids is already cutting into them like a fire lance, piercing through their forces.

Rikka becomes aware of Shiki’s anxiety just as his lilies bind female Marrionette reaching out to him with hands soaked in Black Despair. Rikka quickly puts the thing out of its’ misery, before turning to where Shiki was, and instantly realizes what worried his Changer.

Puppetmaster didn’t stop.

It was smaller than usual, just about the size of giant man, and had barely eight arms, but, different to its’ bigger kin, upon Shiki’s entrance, it didn’t stop on its’ way to Growth’s position. It slowed down, yes, registering presence of the other Composer, but its’ sight - if you could say that about a faceless thing - was firmly set on Growth, and it was visible that even thin barrier of light that the Song provided to the Support Unit was struggling with keeping the monster at bay.

Kouki’s movements naturally pushed him forward and in front of Mamoru, making the light user be in the direct path of the monster, staring at him defiantly, eyes shining with undertones of gold, even as his voice kept the harmony going. In answer, barrier shone a bit stronger, but for how long will it suffice...

‘Tsubasa!’ Shiki shouts, and hunter turns to him, before his eyes flash as well, and Rikka is suddenly aware of the second Song, growing in place for the slowly fading away Lucretia.

 _That_ catches Puppetmaster’s attention.

It turns, and all of Marionettes abandon their previous task of forcing past the light barrier to focus on swarming to Shiki and Tsubasa. Rikka is actually closer to the latter, and so, he opts for going after the puppets going after the hunter, just warming up, as Chronoah takes over the field. Then, he sees Dai with a corner of his eye, taller hunter charging into a group of Marionettes near Shiki, fire shield covering his arm and shoulder, and feels sense of gratitude mixed with relief. His Changer wasn’t alone.

And then, Chronoah explodes in full power, and he no longer can feel just Shiki or just Tsubasa, but it doesn’t matter, for he has opponents to deal with, flowers - now with the tips of the petals shining in purple - to grow, and existences to release from the anguish of being somebody’s else toys.

Somewhere among the scuffle, a shred of clothing of one of the Marionettes stay in his hands, but he has no time to open his fist, much less to look at it, especially not when the Puppetmaster shrieks and finally charges at the Composer and his Singer, and Rikka and Dai take him into a pincer attack, pinning it and its’ arms in place, while Shiki and Tsubasa reach high, just before slamming all of the power generated in the bridge onto the abomination, turning it to ash in a matter of seconds.

Another one down.

Rikka can feel Shiki’s satisfaction and relief once they finally get to talk to Growth - nobody got hurt, thankfully. After Support Unit sent the scout away, the Puppetmaster’s barrier started cracking, but also moving much quicker towards the shelter, and Kouki decided to use them as a lure to keep the opponents at bay and away. It resulted in them baiting all of the Marionettes to the clearing that served as their battlefield.

At the mention of the battle, Rikka remembers about relaxing his fist, and upon looking down, feels all of the relief drain away from him. Shiki, feeling his sudden change in emotions, looks at him.

‘What’s it? Rikka.’

He mutely shows the thing to his Changer, and Shiki chokes.

‘But...’ he says with disbelief. ‘We were supposed to wipe out all of those with the Song of Seven... all of those we lost were clearly in the range of it.’

‘What is it about- ah.’ Kouki comes to look at the thing in Rikka’s palm, and his eyes widen. ‘Is this...?’

‘It’s an old version. They changed it after Great Tragedy, so as not to accidentially curse new members.’ Rikka softly explains to humans now surrounding his hand and looking at the small decoration he held. ‘But, there’s one that will remember it.’

Shiki inhales slowly.

‘It might have been an irregular.’ he says slowly, but Rikka can tell he’s just as unsure of his words as Rikka is. ‘For now, let’s keep this between us. And especially let’s keep this from Shu.’

‘I’m not sure it’s the best idea, but...’ Tsubasa rubs his chin slowly. ‘I guess you know him the best.’

With Kouki agreeing with the other High, they had a common agreement regarding the issue, and started planning their return and reports on the abnormal behavior of their enemy, but Rikka cannot help it and once again looks at the piece of metal he accidentally tore away from one of the Marionettes.

It was dark with dirt, age and the burns his fire inflicted on its’ previous owner, but the shape was still unmistakable.

‘Rikka! Come on!’

Rikka raises his head.

‘Coming!’ he calls back, hiding a pin with a mark of the Izumi group into his pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Great Tragedy is also a private tragedy for Shu... and Rikka knows it best. (And guys who read Burny also know it well.)  
> Why I'm bringing it back here? Because Shu entrusting that past to somebody else is a big part of future installment in Because you are, and also, a rather big plotpoint for the future in Dreamer's Song.  
> My updates might become slightly slower, since I got some job offers (or like, orders for text?) that will cut into my quality fanfic time. Not the next one, this one is practically finished, but the ones after that (also, I'm posting fics as a treat to myself for finishing part of the work, so. Because You Are update coming in an hour or so, when I finish next part...)  
> For now, though, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter! (funny thing, I actually forgot what was supposed to happen in that one, I ended up going through my tsukipro songs just to see if there's one that could jostle my memory. Lo and behold there was, and I don't want to write sad ever again. I'm not good at it.)


	5. Gregorio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This train stops at the following stations: soft and cute fluff- cooking buddies fluff/comedy with a tinge of drama- drama-angst-more drama. Passengers are asked to make sure they have their seats secured and tissues ready, just in case.

‘Reeeen!’

He turns to the source of a rather powerful call, already knowing what he will see.

‘Nozo-ngh.’ he’s tackled by the red blur. Seriously, his friend - and actually, a boyfriend for more than half a year now, which felt insane to him - really couldn’t contain his excitement, despite Ren’s countless lectures.

Well, it was part of Nozomu’s charm.

‘Going back home?’ High asks, peeking at him from up close. Really close, actually, and Ren feels that if he doesn’t put a bit of a distance between them soon, they will end up kissing. In the middle of the walkway.

He won’t put it past Nozomu to shamelessly start something like that.

‘Y-yeah.’ he carefully extracts himself from the glomp, but leaves his hand in Nozomu’s grip - he won’t get it back even if he tried, probably. ‘There’s a kendo competition, and some of the younger students I was overseeing want to participate in it. Dad said I need to give my permission as their secondary teacher.’

‘Ren is amazing!’ Nozomu loudly proclaims, and Ren resigns himself to a blush that threatens to rise to his cheeks. ‘Let me walk you there?’

‘It’s okay, but... you don’t have to.’ Ren looks at Nozomu. ‘You’re tired from our dispatches, right? It haven’t even been a day since we’ve got into Recovery.’

Nozomu shakes his head and sways their hands between them.

‘I’m comple-tely fine! Besides, Ren is working hard, so, I gotta do my best, too!’

‘How about training your Singing then?’ Ren asks, expecting a whine, and getting surprised at the thoughtful hum he got instead.

‘Only if Ren joins in as well!’ Nozomu proclaims with a grin. ‘I need someone to control me!’

‘Yes, you do.’ Ren agrees with a fond sigh. ‘Okay then, after we come back-’

‘Why not now?’ Nozomu grins. ‘We won’t cause a disturbance if it’s only us, and Sora-san isn’t there to coax the real thing out.’

‘Now? Here?’ asks Ren, but deep down, he knows answers to both these questions.

Nozomu just grins at him, and Ren knows he’s already lost.

It was a good thing Nozomu wasn’t into kendo.

*

‘It seems we all love this shop.’

Morihito turns from the shelves upon shelves of foods and his shopping list, only to see two men entering the aisle.

‘Rikka-san, Kouki-kun.’ he greets, and human returns the greeting, before asking.

‘Shopping for dinner?’

‘Yeah.’ Morihito chuckles, sheepish. ‘I come from the family where food was considered unnecessary hassle, so I can’t really cook beyond few simple dishes, but Sou- ah, Soushi insist I can at least pick ingredients. He’s not really wrong, but...’

The last part, he barely mutters, but Rikka smiles a knowing smile.

‘It’s hard to figure out this stuff when you’re not used to it. I had trouble with it too, since back in my time as a human, supermarkets were actively nonexistent.’ he says with compassion, before leaning over other vampire’s shoulder and checking his shopping list and contents of the cart. ‘From the looks of it, Soushi wants to make a nabe pot, so it will be better to choose more juicy meat- ah, look, you have it on the list as well.’

‘What does it even mean...’ Morihito looks stressed at the list, before looking up at Rikka in shock. ‘Actually, how did you know-’

‘The ingredients are pretty obvious give away.’ Kouki comes next to Rikka, side-eyeing paper in Morihito’s hand. ‘Soushi-san even listed them in the order of adding them to the pot.’

Morihito looks between the two men in front of him and the piece of paper in his hand.

Were there really this many information on the scrap of paper for them to deduct it all, or were they just psychics picking Soushi’s brains from a distance?

Rikka notices his bafflement, because he chuckles.

‘We’ve spend a lot of time in the kitchen.’ he says, pointing to both himself and Kouki. ‘It’s no wonder we can understand its’ workings better than somebody who only just recently started eating at all.’

Morihito blinks.

‘How did you-’

‘Am I wrong?’ Rikka asks, abashed, but Morihito shakes his head.

‘You’re not, which is why I am asking.’

Rikka smiles softly.

‘It’s something you can easily observe in vampires having tight connection with humans. They learn to at least imitate human behaviors, so as not to spook them.’ he looks questioningly at his companion, and Kouki nods.

‘Mamoru does that, too, although for him it's also because of his growing up among humans. Also, he seems to take inspiration from the sounds of cooking?’ he says, slightly confused, and Rikka chuckles again.

‘So, he also does that.’ he shakes his head. ‘It’s amazing how different tunes come out with different cooking.’

Kouki turns to Morihito.

‘Would you like for us to join in and help with choosing of the rest of ingredients? We both are out shopping for our Units anyway.’ he asks the vampire, and Morihito looks as if he offered him a help in decimation of a nest, and not simple shopping.

‘Yes, please.’ he says, eyes shining with gratitude, and Rikka chuckles again.

‘It might be overwhelming at first, but once you get used to it, hunting for occasions starts being quite fun.’ he advises other vampire, with Kouki enthusiastically nodding his head to his words.

Together, they get most of Morihito’s shopping list into his basket, before Kouki spots yet another familiar face.

‘Horimiya-san?’ he asks, and the called man turns from comparing two packets of onions. ‘That’s a surprise, it seems we all had grocery run in plans for today.’

‘Etou-kun! And also Sera-sa-’

Rikka raises his finger in warning. Eichi blinks.

‘...Right, Rikka-san, and... ah, Arihara-kun... right?’

‘I’m surprised to be known.’ Morihito corrects his glasses, but Eichi just smiles.

‘I’ve ended up doing research on Tsukino Field Units for... well, reasons. Anyway, are we all shopping for the same thing?’

‘If you mean dinner ingredients, then yes, indeed.’ Rikka chuckles. ‘Though we might be going for quite different cuisines, actually. Morihito-kun here has been tasked with getting ingredients for nabe, while we’re having quiche.’

He shows them his own shopping basket with at least three different types of cheese and cream. Kouki hums thoughtfully.

‘Maybe I should try this one out too, sometime...’ he ponders, before looking towards Eichi. ‘Horimiya-san?’

‘Ah, Eichi is fine.’ the man waves his hands quickly. ‘It’s nothing, I was just wondering if I shouldn’t copy Rikka-san as well.’

‘When will you drop that suffix...’ Rikka mutters before raising his voice. ‘Struggling for ideas?’

Eichi nods reluctantly.

‘If it was only me it would be fine, but it’s no longer the case.’ he sighs, but it carries a lot of fondness in it.

‘Cooking for somebody special?’ Rikka asks with a small smirk. Eichi shakes his head, though there’s just tiniest flush in his cheeks.

‘I wish... maybe when I get the courage.’ he mutters the last part, before raising his voice to normal level again. ‘No, I currently... you could say I take care of two boys now? And while one can eat practically anything that has meat in it, the other is a bit bad with his food. He also can’t really stand oily things, so go-to problem solvers like karaage is a bit off limits as well. I’m worried because the two move a lot, and build up muscle, so technically he should get some proteins and fats to keep him going, right...’

‘Eichi, you sound like a worried mother.’ Rikka chuckles. ‘But well, I didn’t see them that clearly either, but even then they didn’t look too big. How old are those two, again?’

‘Will be fourteen... actually, next month.’ Eichi says, before stopping. ‘Wait, Rikka-san, you’ve seen them?’

‘Very briefly.’ Rikka shakes his head. ‘Trust me, it was hard getting Shiki to focus on our maintenance mission after he caught sight of Shu with his final Singers. It was happy kind of distraction, though.’

‘You even know this-’

‘I’m Changed specifically because I’m a Singer, Eichi.’ Rikka sighs. ‘And Shu has been looking for his Singers for years. It’s obvious that I will get a clue once he finally finds them.’

‘He did?’ Kouki sounds surprised. Rikka smiles at him.

‘One of them stands in front of you.’

Eichi stutters.

‘H-How-’

‘Shu apparently gushed about you to Shiki - he’s my Changer, so I’m kind of aware of a lot of what’s going on with him. Then, I just connected the dots, since after meeting you, Shiki drowned me in questions, and only afterwards explained it's because my Song came into contact with one of Shu’s.’ Rikka explains simply. ‘Don’t ask me how he felt that, though. I lived with him for more than forty years now, and I still don’t get all Composer’s gimmicks.’

‘I-I see?’

‘So, that means Horimiya-san will be the part of the Field Unit that partners up with Growth?’ Kouki asks, looking between older men.

‘That’s the plan. Well, apparently from the start for Shu, but I originally planned to stay as a Support.’ Eichi makes a face. ‘But the other three are very good at convincing.’

‘Let me guess - they puppy eyed you into joining.’ Rikka says, then snorts at the look on Eichi’s face. ‘You think how I end up cooking Tsubasa’s favorite food at least once a week?’

He shakes his head fondly.

‘It’s hard to say no to cute children.’ he proclaims, and Eichi agrees with him sincerly. Morihito blinks.

‘Are you really comfortable calling Okui-san that? I would say that the relationship you have is... different kind of affectionate.’

‘Arihara-kun, hush.’ Rikka answers with a smile, pointing subtly at Kouki. Mori ohs.

‘Understood.’

Kouki looks between them with confused expression, before shrugging.

Probably vampire thing, at worst he’ll ask Mamoru. He turns towards Eichi, with conflicted expression observing the exchange.

‘Ho-Eichi-san, I was thinking... those two children you’ve mentioned are the final members of the Shield Unit?’

‘Hm? Ah, yes, well, that’s the plan. But, since we all are greenhorns regarding Field, it will be a while before we’ll be able to join the fray. Personally I don’t mind, since just like Shu, I don’t really like idea of the two going to Field so soon, but. I guess we’re inconveniencing you like that, so, sorry in advance?’

‘It’s true that we’re waiting impatiently to meet our partners.’ Kouki smiles. ‘But, safety comes first, and Etou domain always prioritized keeping as many people alive as possible, rather than having as much power as manageable.’

‘Well, I don’t think the power is the problem for those two, but the technique might take a while...’ Eichi sighs. ‘Though admittedly, I’m not any better. That’s why I’ve told Shu I’ll stay their Support...’

‘I’d say it would be hard for him to accept.’ Rikka smiles, though that smile disappear soon enough. ‘Then again, I didn’t think he would so readily start preparing you for the Field. He’s the type to be overprotective of his precious people. Sometimes too much, to the point of hurting himself.’

‘Hurting?’ Eichi asks alerted, but Rikka shakes his head.

‘He doesn’t seem to be doing that with you, at least, not as much as he used to, which definitely makes me happy. He used to distance himself from the people dear to him, afraid they will become even more hurt by being next to him.’ he explains to Eichi, before coming to the shelf with dairy. ‘I wonder what would be good for your boys...’

‘Distancing...’ Eichi mutters, and Rikka stills, dread filling his gut. Shu wasn’t... ‘I guess I really don’t know him nearly as well as you do, Rikka-san.’

He can hear dejection in that voice, and it alerts him more than it should, considering he’s meeting the man for the second time in his life.

‘I had much more time to observe him.’ he says slowly, before turning to Eichi. ‘Then again, I’ve never been as close to him as you will become.’

‘Eh?’ Eichi quickly gains color, and Rikka chuckles against himself.

‘Not in that way, although I have my suspicions, Eichi.’ he says teasingly, and the man sputters a bit. ‘As a Singer, you have much stronger bond with a Composer than any of his friends will ever have, it’s possible that it’s even closer than his connection with his Group.’

His smile turns wistful.

‘This is also a reason he might be trying to distance himself, if he does that.’

‘He does. A bit.’ Eichi says, and there’s no doubt in his voice. ‘Isse says- ah, that’s the older boy - he says he was supposed to start training with them, because of Isse’s higher than usual affinity with his element, but ever since I’ve joined I kind of took over management of most of this stuff.’

‘That’s still not bad, I would say.’ Rikka says slowly in the strange silence that spread between them. ‘Composers have a hard time separating with their Singers, mostly because then they won’t be able to protect them. The fact he trusts you to take care of his youngest ones is saying he trusts you, perhaps more than he trusts himself.’

Suddenly, Rikka snorts.

‘Dear, what I am saying, he definitely trusts you more than he trusts himself.’ he says with unnatural amount of frustration. ‘And at the same time, probably doesn’t even think about entrusting you with _that_ , because it will burden you, or whatever he imagines it will do to you.’

‘That?’ Eichi asks, and Rikka looks at him, before pushing his hair behind his ear.

‘I’m sorry, I worked myself up unnecessarily. How immature of me.’ he sighs.

‘It’s okay, but... what was supposed to burden me?’ Eichi asks, and Rikka hums, turning back to the food in the aisle.

‘It’s a thing of the past, it happened during Great Tragedy. I’m pretty sure it’s even recorded in history books.’ he side-eyes Eichi. ‘You probably just didn’t realize it regarded Shu.’

Eichi blinks.

‘Great Tragedy...event that affected Shu...Izumi group?’ he says slowly, before his eyes widen. ‘Wait, when did Shu exactly become the head? I’ve never asked...’

‘That’s good.’ surprisingly, Rikka smiles. ‘It’s like reminding me and Shiki that technically, we’re the oldest members of the Field Units - asking that would make him feel old.’

He sighs.

‘I won’t say anything more, okay? It’s something I saw myself, but I think it should be Shu’s story to tell.’ he says softly. Much to his surprise, Eichi just nods, instead of pressing him for details.

‘I’ll talk to him myself.’ Eichi says with conviction. ‘We’re supposed to move into Tsukino forces' building soon, I’ll catch him then.’

He turns to the shelves.

‘Now, back to the more pressing problem...’

‘I was thinking, did you try gratin?’ Kouki speaks up, making older men jump.

‘I’m- I’m so sorry I forgot you were still there... I wouldn’t pull Rikka-san’s tongue that much if I remembered!’ Eichi stammers, bowing to the two Field Support members. Morihito just shakes his head.

‘I’ve gotten to know something new about our partner Unit as well, so I’m rather grateful, personally.’ he says, side-eyeing Rikka, who just smiles.

‘I also feel like I’ve learned from your exchange. Plus, it gave me time to think of a dish that would fit your needs, Eichi-san.’ Kouki adds, and Eichi blinks, before humming.

‘Gratin... true, I haven’t tried that just yet... wait, you were thinking about it all this time?!’

‘Food is important, after all.’ philosophically answers Kouki, and Rikka nods with a giggle.

‘Although it’s hard to convince High vampires of that.’ he says teasingly, and Mori blinks at him. ‘Anyway, I also think gratin is good, there are many variations, so we can just propose you with our versions, and you can adjust them to your boys’ liking.’

Eichi nods appreciatively, before blinking.

‘I’ve been wondering for a while, but... why calling them mine?’

‘You’re acting like their overprotective mother, and Shu seems to agree, if he leaves them with you.’ Rikka answers, and there’s a teasing lilt in his voice. ‘He probably wants to raise them with you~’

‘R-Rikka-san! Please stop joking like that!’ Eichi whines, face red, and Rikka just laughs.

*

The call comes just few days later, when Kouki does end up borrowing Rikka's idea and makes quiche for dinner. Everybody seems to enjoy it, at least until Kouki isn’t called by General Tsukino.

Much to his shock, the one waiting for him in the office is not only General, but also his own father, face pale and expression tense. Even the smile he always throws Kouki’s way as a greeting seems to be dimmed, and Aesodius stirs in him with worry.

While no Legendary was as close to his dragon as Mamoru’s Amicus, the fact that he, Aesodius’ vessel, was born to be Aquila the great eagle’s child did attune the Spirits to each other. And it seemed his father’s Soul Spirit was really, really worried.

Kouki feels himself tensing on instinct.

It doesn’t help that Sora is in the room, his presence so quiet compared to his normal self that it takes Kouki a second to notice other leader.

‘Kouki.’ his father sounds weary. ‘I’m sorry I had to call you.’

‘No-’

‘Technically I was the one to no doubt cut Growth’s dinnertime short.’ dryly says Tsukino. Then, he sighs. ‘Although, I feel just as regretful about it.’

‘I know I’m probably an outsider called in by mistake, so I have no right to even ask that, but,’ Sora speaks up, coming to stand next to tensed up Kouki, ‘can you please stop beating around the bush, sirs? I’m pretty sure this tension is stifling for a fair reason, but if we know it, we might get to solving it straight away.’

Kouki feels surge of gratitude to the other leader and his straightforwardness. It doesn’t last, as his father just sighs.

‘I think you’re here because of consideration to our forces that General Tsukino decided to show, Oohara-kun. Or rather, to Kouki’s retainer.’

Kouki inhales sharply, before starting to recall all the regions, all the dispatches they were called for.

The mental map created as a result has only one, terrifying blank spot on the eastern side, and Kouki for the first time in a long while feels sand in his mouth.

‘Region eighteen.’ Tsukino looks at him in surprise, but his father just nods wearily. ‘Feather Village. Something happened to Yaegashi-’

‘That’s a good way to summarize it - something.’ his father says, and Kouki can hear bitterness mixed with helpless despair in it. ‘The connection tore just as we received their request for the strongest purification team we can afford to spare.’

He inhales deeply, and straightens, before looking at his son. Kouki can once again see the leader of the domain, the head of the Etous, the man he aspires to one day succeed and continue his work. Beneath it all, is the man who prepares to grieve, though, and his heart squeezes.

‘Kouki. I have no idea what is the situation in that region, beyond the fact the fight is over and there were casualties. You know the strongest mental connectors among Bird Spirit Users come from Yaegashi, so, I expect the damage in their family to be strong. I want you to go there and judge situation; if you think it’s impossible to keep the region safe,’ he takes a deep breath. ‘I want you to issue evacuation order. We can abandon our land...’

‘...but we cannot abandon our people.’ Kouki completes the sentence, as his father’s voice trembles. Aquila’s vessel nods. ‘I understand, I shall go immediately.’

‘However,’ Tsukino speaks up, stopping Kouki in place, ‘due to familial connection a member of Growth has with the region, his feelings might affect his effectiveness on the mission.’

He points to Sora.

‘You’re Growth’s leader, but also Sakuraba-kun and especially Yaegashi-kun’s lord, Kouki-kun, so I want you to decide whether you choose to go with them or not. I can give emergency permission for Soara’s dispatch instead, and I’m sure they won’t mind helping you.’

‘O-Of course not!’ Sora stutters a bit, but quickly gets himself together. ‘Soara and Growth are part of the same project, and we both have the same reason to get on the Field- to bring all of the fighters that dispatch with us home.’

‘That’s reassuring point of view.’ head of Etou nods seriously at the teen.

‘Sora, thank you. General, too. ’ Kouki says slowly, before raising hand to his chest. ‘I realize that from the logical point of view, dispatching with Soara would be the best solution, but... they already know something happened.’

Head of Etous ‘ah’s softly.

‘Your connection grew this strong already.’ he says, and Kouki nods.

‘Songs amplify the effect of retainer’s oath, it seems. Speaking of them, while not lessening Sora’s capabilities in any way, Mamoru’s Songs have just stronger area of effect purification than Soara’s.’

‘I can’t argue with that.’ Sora doesn’t sound upset about it, more like... worried? Probably for their well being, and Kouki feels small wave of gratitude for their rivals once again.

‘Are you sure Yaegashi-kun will be able to perform his duty, though?’ Tsukino asks, and Kouki nods slowly.

‘I know he doesn’t behave the part, but he is a very responsible person.’ he smiles softly, before looking at his father. ‘And I know he’d hate to be left behind.’

‘They’re your retainers.’ slowly returns the older Etou. ‘I trust you to know their temperament. And their limits.’

Kouki just nods, before asking.

‘How far the Tunnel connection can take us?’

*

True to his words, Growth felt something was wrong before he even returned to the dorms, for the second he crossed the threshold of their main room, remaining three stood up and moved in front of him, in expectant silence. He looks over all of them.

That’s how it should be. With nobody left alone, or left behind. Even if the future ahead was painful...

‘Deployment orders from Etou domain.’ he says shortly. ‘We’ll be dispatching in twenty minutes.’

‘Of course it was that...’ sighs Kensuke, but quietens under Kouki’s watchful stare. ‘Kou?’

Kouki takes a deep breath.

‘I haven’t told you which region it is.’ he looks over all of his team. ‘We’re dispatching to Feather Village. Region eighteen.’

He notices the way Kensuke goes very, very still, just for a moment.

Then, Ryota huffs.

‘Of course it would happen now.’ he says, and Kensuke wakes up.

‘What now?’ his voice sounds sharper than usual when turning to his counterpart, and Mamoru flinches in surprise.

Ryota returns his stare.

‘Just yesterday, my sister complained about temporary new assistant to lady Etou. There’s only one person within all of the domain that aggravates her enough to whine. And that person is..?’

‘Nee-chan!’ Kensuke seems to relax visibly, and Kouki suddenly realizes that was exactly what Ryota was aiming at. ‘And since she’s dad’s assistant...’

‘So, the younger of the Yaegashi leaders were in Tokyo.’ Kouki tries not to show how much relief the information brought him as well. ‘And that might be why we don’t have the proper report. So, we will dispatch the closest we can go, meet with the people on site, and go from there. We know the purification definitely needs to be carried out, so brace yourselves for that. Dispatch is from our forces’ Tunnel, so let’s get on the move, so that they don’t need to wait.’

‘Yessir!’

Both Kouki and Ryota remain, while the other two disappear in the corridor leading to their rooms.

‘It’s not over yet, you know.’ Ryota silently says to Kouki. ‘Just because main part of his direct family is safe.’

‘Even then, I don’t want him to have to stay behind.’ he answers his retainer. ‘Not now, when he knows something is wrong, and at the same time has a reason to be there and help. But, Ryo, you know the feeling better than I do.’

Ryota just nods. Kouki then hesitates.

‘Do you think I’m making a mistake?’ he slowly asks, and Ryota looks at him surprised, before humming in thought.

‘It will be painful.’ he finally passes the judgement. ‘But compared to staying behind, Kensuke will end up thankful to you for it. And I won’t let him hurt himself.’

‘Thank you.’ Kouki says softly, before letting both of them go and prepare for the mission awaiting them.

*

True to Ryota’s words, it was nowhere near the end, as Kouki noticed tenseness overcoming his other retainer now and then, the absent way in which he answered their teammates, even those small needles Ryota kept using to keep him with them. He exchanges worried looks with the Serpent User, but at this point, they can’t do much beyond being there.

He gets incredibly positively surprised by Mamoru, just quietly staying by Ken’s side, and apparently providing something Bird User needed, for vampire was the only one that got answers minimally more conscious. Kouki is grateful, because as much as he wants to stay with Kensuke, his obligation as the heir and Growth’s leader make him leave them while he gets briefed, and then when he discusses the details of the dispatch, gathering newer information from the Field. He gets to know that while one of the shelters has fallen, the connection with it was cut off after evacuating as many people as possible, and that somehow, the glyph barriers that were torn by the attack were reactivated from inside, then enforced from outside, resulting in a deadly trap for the Marionettes that invaded it. However, the end result of this was death, lots of deaths, and a lot of Despair getting through the regular protections set against such happenings.

He also got to meet Yaegashi senior, and get to know his opinion on Growth choosing to go instead of Soara.

‘I expect the worst.’ he says calmly, in Kouki's face. ‘And if my son breaks under it, I won’t blame him for that.’

Something in Kouki stirs a sense of very, very negative feeling, the urge to prove the man wrong. Even though he knows it was a completely justifiable prediction...

‘Kensuke isn’t weak.’ he answers very slowly. When Yaegashi senior opens his mouth, no doubt to clarify, Kouki very calmly finishes his thought. ‘And I won’t let him deal with it alone.’

They dispatch soon after that, but even then, his father finds a moment to softly reprimand him.

‘Too sharp, Kouki.’ he says, voice hushed. ‘Never forget to consider the reason behind your speaker’s thought. Remember who was left in Feather Village.’

‘I know.’ Kouki answers, head bowing just slightest bit in acceptance of reprimand. He did let go of his cool in his return to Kensuke’s father, and although something inside him still protested, he knew he will have to eventually come and apologize to the man. ‘But what I’ve said is also true. He won’t be alone, and won’t be just a helpless observer. We’re going there to save lives and pacify souls, and I’m sure Ken realizes that as well.’

‘Rational mind doesn’t always work on emotions.’ his father returns. ‘And sometimes, it would be better if it didn’t.’

*

He realizes what his father meant seconds after they enter the Tunnel, with Aesodius looking straight at him, not even pretending to ignore his presence.

 _„The great Roc grieves, Child of Light.”_ dragon says to him, and Kouki can only nod. _„But, he tries to hide it. To prove his utility, his reason to be there. Friend worries for him.”_

‘Amicus?’ Kouki suddenly realizes the heaviness of the situation. ‘Did Ken's Song-’

 _„As it is now, he keeps his emotions away from you.”_ Aesodius looks down at him. _„And you know how Friend takes you on the journey with him.”_

‘Through harmony of voices and emotions.’ Kouki has talked to Mamoru enough times to understand the working of the Song, even if the vampire never used that phrasing. ‘What can we do, Aesodius? I don’t want to hurt him, but...’

 _„You can be there for him. For them.”_ Aesodius says slowly. _„There’s one more Great Beast grieving. Wanting to be let in. He has a chance, if only because he understands and was understood previously.”_

‘Was understoo- you mean Ry-’ Kouki asks, but the connection with his core starts fading, as he exits the Tunnel. Aesodius lowers his head to let Kouki hear his last advice.

_„Let the vessel of a Friend know the story. A grief is also a feeling, and the one you all know.”_

Kouki opens his eyes, dragon’s last advice ringing in his ears. All of them... as it was now, he was the only one he would exclude from that statement. He had his family complete and safe... even when all of their subordinates, friends and retainers lost part of theirs, and he can do nothing but stay with them.

It was only because he could never see his face from the outside, that Kouki didn’t realize Aesodius was right in not excluding him.

As it was now, he turns to assess their position, and to check on his team. Kensuke seems shaken, something in meeting with his Roc triggering feelings he wanted to hold back, but noticing Kouki’s eyes on himself, he hid all of it behind a regular grin, if only slightly shaky in the corners of his mouth.

Kouki realizes it was part of the closing off Aesodius mentioned, and is almost grateful when Mamoru quietly comes to stand by his side, Ryota coming through seconds after, his expression a complicated mix of anger and worry. Kouki knew this face, and he could only hope that the explosion that awaits them once Ryota reaches his limits will have as purifying qualities as Mamoru’s Songs do.

It almost always had.

He turns back at the sound of grumbling. Bird Spirit Users came to greet them, most of them looking tired, or dirty, or hurt, or all of that at once, and all of them throwing more or less hostile looks Ryota’s way.

While in normal situation, families close to Etous had no problem maintaining distance from each other if they weren’t getting along, in their injured state, Bird Users instinctively saw earth dwelling family’s heir as just another possible danger...

Kouki had to give it to Ryota - his retainer moved just behind his back after one calculative glance, letting Kouki’s presence almost completely erase his, giving clear signal of backing away from the potential conflict. In current situation, there was no better course of action, and he sends one short smile of gratitude to his retainer, with Ryota nodding back shortly.

Kouki requests report only after releasing fourth level limit on both his teammates, his senses instinctively screaming at him to release more power, to combat heaviness in the air, the scent only he, a light user, could smell and without a doubt identify as Black Despair, slowly poisoning even those who hasn’t come into contact with it.

They needed to stop that, but with the news like this...

‘After we evacuated the outer shelter to here, we set up a temporary first aid station over there.’ the man with his hair and feathers tinged in red- whether it was their color or the blood caking them, Kouki was no longer sure- points to their right. ‘We isolated all of those who came in contact with Black Despair, but-’

His voice trembles. While Soul Spirit Users didn’t succumb as quick as normal people or vampires, even they had their limit, past which the purification, even with light element, would kill them. The scout gathers himself quick enough.

‘Aside of them, we’re still searching for two or three people lost mid-evacuation, but the losses in the civilians are minimal.’

‘The possibility of those two or three staying behind?’ Kouki asks, looking past the messenger, at the high glyph wall posed just a kilometer or so from the line of buildings and hastily raised temporary tents that were all what was left from the main shelter of region eighteen.

Even from that distance he could tell it was the main source of Despair, and also that it was holding back even bigger amounts from being released outside.

Messenger shakes his head defiantly.

‘There’s no way, we’ve checked for life signatures within the barriers before starting the containment strategy and Yaegashi-sama would push them away even from inside...’

He trails off, as he slowly realizes in front of whom he stands, and following his stare, Kouki can see Kensuke with extremely pale complexion and extremely wide eyes staring at the User in front of them. Then, he blinks, looks at Kouki, and then shakes his head, hiding the look of sheer terror under the mask of a small, shaky smile.

‘Aah, no, it’s alright, I mean, I knew uncle would do that, right? He was the strongest of the Users left, with dad and us in the main shelter. Ahah... Sorry, sorry, you can continue.’ he turns to the man. ‘I think Kouki would like to see the place closest to the barrier next, we need to estimate the distance and the purification amplitude after all, right?’

He speaks quickly, as if trying to drag everyone away from the memory of his expression, and even as Kouki nods, he feels the sense of wrongness of Kensuke hiding under his regular cheer instead of actually showing what he felt with it.

He can hear soft huff behind himself, but the fact that Ryota agrees with him doesn’t help much. Still, they had a role to fulfill, and the sooner they manage to purify the region, the more likely number of victims will lower.

They go through what was once one of the roads leading to the nearby shelter. The camp was set up on the place of a small village near the town...

Sector eighteen took pride in their shelters having this system of a feather’s vane and the afterfeather, a small village or a cave that was adjusted to become a temporary camp in case something happened to the feather’s vane - or, the main settlement. With cities divided into sections separated by dormant glyph barriers that were possible to activate in case of emergency, it was almost unheard of the shelter having ever to use their afterfeather... until now, when it happens to the main shelter of the region.

And to protect it, the man in charge decided to change the vane into a cage for the Black Despair, as the Bird User explains, even as he leads them through the sea of temporary houses to where they will Sing, for the sake of both the fallen and the alive... if one of them decides to open up to the rest.

‘Activating all barriers allowed to slow them down, but with Puppetmasters supporting Marionettes, and civilians added into the mix, we were without a chance to keep the city. Yaegashi-sama ordered start of the Reverse Glyph sealing as soon as most of our forces evacuated. He was the pillar we directed all the devices and all the power at, and according to the detectors, the remaining Black Despair is just a leftover, as all forces within the range of the glyph sphere were eliminated by the pressure of it.’

‘How come they even got into the city?’ the User throws a dirty look Ryota’s way, but Serpent’s User completely ignores that, looking over Kouki’s head at the barrier. ‘Feather Village was considered the best prepared shelter after Spine shelters. I don’t believe it got its’ fame for nothing, not with the results speaking in its’ favor until this moment.’

Bird User blinks, not expecting complete lack of jabs, just a logical statement, and Kouki stifles a sigh.

He knew it would be reversed if they were on earth dwellers' territory, but. Seriously, could people not underestimate his retainers?

‘We don’t know yet for sure, everything is too fresh. We might have lacked power, though. We had little vampires living with us from the start, but now, even those moved to the Spine, leaving us only with human Users.’ speaks up another Bird User joining them, his feathers in a shape specific to swallows, and Kensuke wakes from his subdued stupor.

‘Muramachi-san! You were...’ he drifts off, as the man shakes his head, regret written all over his face.

‘I wasn’t there, and I might regret it for the rest of my life.’ Muramachi replies. ‘My condolences, Yaegashi-sama.’

Kensuke’s face contorts for a split second, before he once again hides under the mask.

‘It was not your fault.’ the reassurance is firm, but to Kouki’s ears, it sounds hollow. Maybe because the teen speaking it secretly blamed himself... ‘If anything, we should be grateful we still have strong fighters ready to defend us.’

It was logical. True. Automated. Not like Kensuke.

Kouki feels tension coiling behind his back, but he isn’t able to give Ryota’s state attention, because Mamoru gently pulls at Kouki’s sleeve.

‘The Yaegashi we were talking about...?’ he whispers and Kouki hesitates for a moment.

‘Kensuke’s uncle. His father’s fraternal twin. Basically, Ken’s second dad.’ Ryota answers for him, and he can only nod. Mamoru ‘oh’s, his eyes darkening with sadness.

‘That’s painful.’

Kouki once again can do nothing but nod, as they reach a spot where other Bird Spirit Users stop, at the small uphill, just few dozen metres beyond the line of last temporary cottages.

Too close for safety.

‘The Reverse Glyph technique will hold for a long time. The inner pillar-’ Muramachi’s voice trembles, and Kensuke rests his hand on other man’s shoulder, squeezing in quiet support. ‘-was a Mythic, after all. And the remaining guards poured all of their energy from outside during creation. We, the reinforcements, added our three cents upon arrival as well, but the Despair is still...’

‘There’s a lot, indeed.’ Kensuke’s voice is level. Practically detached. ‘But we’ve managed with things like those.’

It was true. Mamoru’s Songs grew in power with the time they spent together, and spent polishing their control over the purification effect. Right now, they could be probably called the strongest purification Unit.

Only...

‘Alright! Let’s deal with the thing asap, Kouki needs to report, after all!’ Kensuke’s fake cheer voice resounds, and Kouki almost cringes.

It was wrong, and other Bird Spirit Users didn’t even seem to notice it, their eyes amazed with the control of the young Yaegashi heir in the face of personal tragedy, ready to depend on him, now that he shows that brave front...

‘Say, Mamoru, can we go with that dirarara Song you’ve finished recently?’ Kensuke turns to them, his face a mask badly impersonating his regular reassuring expression of excitement at the idea of presenting yet another Song.

‘That’s...’ Mamoru hesitates, visibly uncomfortable, his eyes flying every other which way, showing his tries at finding the right path through the jungle of music. He normally didn’t have this much problems... but normally, they were on the same page, too. Not trying to hide themselves from each other.

‘Ne, Kou? Help Mamoru get into right mindset?’ Kensuke turns pleading eyes on him, the man in control of Mamoru’s powers and probably talent as well... but right now, all Kouki can see is the pools of despair that his retainer’s eyes turned into, and if he lets him into the Song while he so desperately denies himself the right to deal with his own emotions... ‘I want uncle... to have a peaceful rest.’

That was sincere wish, first ray of honesty that Ken let them see from under the mask he put on ever since the news of the dispatch came. Yet, it was to support this kind of request, that threatened to backfire onto Kensuke, this kind of recklessness he never engaged in...

Before Kouki can deny his request, Ryota does it for him.

‘No, we cannot.’ he comes from behind Kouki, and simultaneously, Kouki feels the tension uncoil, and he realizes. ‘Not with you in this state.’

Ryota snapped.

‘R-Ryo, I’m not really in the mood for the banter with you, you know? So, if you could-’

‘No.’ Ryota cuts him off. ‘I can’t back away. Because you did.’

‘What?’ Kensuke stares incredulously at him. ‘I did what?’

Ryota makes another step towards him.

‘Don’t play stupid, you know what you did. You bailed on us. You’re still bailing.’ Ryota almost hisses, and Kouki needs to move quickly between both Mamoru and Muramachi, and stop both of them from interrupting.

‘It’s okay.’ he says to both of them. They look doubtful, but that’s okay, they weren’t with them all those years ago... ‘Ryota is just returning favor he had owed Kensuke for a long time.’

‘Returning?’ Muramachi scowls, but even he doesn’t risk going against Kouki’s decision. The redfeathered messenger also stopped upon seeing his maneuver.

Meanwhile, Ryota continues the almost aggressive back and forth with Kensuke, coming closer and closer to the other User, before unceremoniously raising his fist and lowering it onto other’s head. Hard.

‘Ow! That hurt! What was that for?!’ Kensuke whines, but his voice gains tinge of realness it was lacking for at least past hour now. Ryota doesn’t back away.

‘A reason.’

‘A what? You’re making no sense!’ Kensuke complains, and notes of anger are also present in his voice now, the tension of emotions he feels inside threatening to spill over.

Kouki realizes what was Ryota’s goal seconds before Serpent User confirms it for him.

‘Emotions make no sense, usually. And if you need a reason to cry, other than losing your relative, I’m always here to provide it. Zero service fee.’

‘Zer-’ Kensuke’s eyes widen, as he realizes what Ryota does. That his counterpart actually returns the words said to him long, long time ago.

Ryota huffs, but it’s one of the softest ones he's ever exhaled.

‘As you’ve once reminded me, let me remind you of it now - I’m not a Bird Spirit User, Ken. You don’t have to pretend for my sake.’ even though from his position, Kouki couldn’t see Ryota’s face, he could easily imagine the soft, gentle expression of compassion he now wore, as the Serpent User pointedly opened his arms. ‘I’m here, Ken. You don’t have to do it alone.’

Kensuke’s face contorts, but now he doesn’t try to mask it with a fake smile. Instead, his wings unfurl as his body crumples, and he reaches for Ryota, his hands clawing into other retainer’s back, pulling him even closer.

‘Sorry, Ryo-’

‘Shut up and cry already. It’s okay.’ Ryota’s words are so soft that if Kouki wasn’t connected with Serpent User, he probably wouldn’t hear them. ‘I’m here for you.’

And Kensuke breaks down, a painful howl finally releasing bottled up emotions, as his wings bend to hide him from anybody not Ryota, embracing other User as a result. Kouki can see a silver of Serpent User’s arms coming up to cradle Ken's head close to his chest, before everything disappears beneath the feathers.

And Kouki knows that they will be alright, this time.

‘When we were four,’ he slowly starts, lowering his hands from blocking Users at both his sides, ‘Sakuraba’s region was attacked, and as a result, Ryota’s father was killed. His mother took over head duties and sent Ryota and his sister away, to our estate. Although most believe it was me helping Ryo get over all this, in reality I couldn’t be by his side as much as he needed. Kensuke was the one who ended up not leaving him alone. He lost his mother just a year earlier, and knew what Ryota was going through, even if both his father and his father's twin were doing their best to compensate him for it. That’s when I decided they’ll become my retainers.’

‘Is that so...’ Mamoru slowly relaxes, watching two of his Singers in front of him. He startles, when Kouki touches his cheek gently.

‘Go to them, and decide on a Song.’ Aesodius’ vessel says quietly, taking off Mamoru’s seal. ‘I’ll arrange everything else.’

Vampire just nods, before making his way to the pair in front of him, his presence a quiet support in itself. Kouki turns to the remaining Bird Spirit Users.

‘If you can, move those infected closer to here. I’ll deal with their injuries simultaneously.’

The two looks at him hesitatingly.

‘Will it be okay?’ finally, Muromachi expresses their mutual worry. ‘The death here is powerful, and Despair will feed on related feelings, and-’

He cuts himself off, as Kouki looks at him, tiny golden scales surrounding his eyes and spreading over his temples, like an exquisite, royal crown.

‘Its okay. I’m powerful, too.’ there’s not even a tone of boast in that statement. Then, Kouki smiles. ‘But even more importantly, I also won’t be doing it alone.’

*

Approximately fifteen minutes later he stares in the eyes surrounded by the red rims of puffy skin, but no longer possessing that kind of dark despair they showed previously, maybe only grief. With grief, they could work, because all of them were ready to grieve their fallen and hurt.

In a way, that’s what they’ve been doing since being chosen as a Field Support, grieving for the lives Marionettes lost, while granting them the respite from their miserable existence. Now, they just had to put souls of those who fell today at peace. Reassure them, that the living will continue onwards.

‘Ken-kun.’ Mamoru gently prompts, and both Kouki and his retainers turn to the vampire. ‘I think your choice of a Song was good, but first...’

‘I know,’ Kensuke’s voice sounds a bit wet, but it’s not shaking. ‘I was putting on a front, thinking I could pull it off.’

‘Not really.’ Mamoru smiles gently, extending his hand. ‘It’s there, actually, just... first, we need the stars to watch over us. And over them.’

He points at the barrier, looming nearby even as they discuss the plan of action. Ryota hums, and Mamoru adds.

‘It’s okay, I know this Song well. I know it will watch over those fallen here as well.’

As well... was it possible...

‘You want to establish the watcher... no, wait. The watchful one, right?’ Ryota asks slowly.

‘Exactly.’ Mamoru looks over all of them. Then, he smiles into the blue eyes, pondering on his words. ‘Kou-kun, you will have to start it, but I think it’s the best course of action we can take.’

‘I understand. Ken, are you okay with it?’ he asks, letting his thoughts drift away, and Kensuke grins at them, shakily, but genuinely.

‘Never been more.’

‘Good.’ Kouki nods, before looking behind them, at the slowly gathering crowd of Bird Users, some with visible marks of Black Despair, some helping those keep on their legs, some just there to observe the way Yaegashi junior and heir of Etous will fight with their misfortune.

Oh, and maybe keep an eye on that suspicious Serpent.

Kouki turns back to his team, and finds them already in positions, just waiting for his signal. But, something still was amiss, and after a second, he realizes.

‘Ken, Ryo.’ he calls out gently. When the two come closer to him, he pulls both of them into a hug, one finger brushing against their pulse points. ‘Release eight level. They also want to be with us, after all.’

He can hear Aesodius’ power within him, satisfied with his decision to let two Mythics come at almost full power, and help in paying respect to the one of their fallen comrades.

He lets go of his retainers, and motions for them to take their places. Then, he meets Mamoru’s eyes, feeling scales cover his skin, as Aesodius pushes light energy for his body to use in what they were about to do.

‘Let’s start, Mamoru.’

Vampire nods, then raises his hand. In answer to his motion an invisible bell resounds, causing the air around them to vibrate, as the Song starts, establishes connection with their surroundings through them, and lets the light spread with waves following the rhythm of the melody. Kouki let’s it carry his voice as well.

His voice is followed by Ryota’s and he knows some might frown at the choice, but that’s not important. What’s important is that he can make sure his retainer has enough power to support Kensuke, the one whose grief will be the source of their Song, the heart of the wish contained with it, for the stars to watch over them from there, from above the clouds, where they cannot go yet...

The imagery that flashes behind their eyes is that of a grieving Brid User, the one who’ve lost a family member, their emotions melted into one Song, but somewhere beneath it, Kouki can see another grief, older, but also bigger, of the child submerged in darkness with the loss of the parents and all those he’s ever known, and his suspicions get confirmed.

Gregorio was a Song born out of the grief Fujimura Massacre caused. For Mamoru to decide to share it with them, offer it to ease the grief of another... just how kind was his Composer?

Then, just at the bridge, as Mamoru’s voice carries a heartfelt wish of ‘watch over us’, and Kouki follows it, the image changes, a single spot of light entering the darkness, and growing, quickly.

Somehow, Kouki knows that it’s both Mamoru’s memory and Mamoru’s wish for Ken to experience the same thing he did, to see the light at the end of the despair...

The light takes the shape of a dragon, just for a microsecond, before Gregorio comes to an end, and he’s face to face with the Composer, to whom the color in his life started returning with Kouki's existence, and he doesn’t know what to say.

He doesn’t need to say anything, not really, because Mamoru smiles, and then takes a deep breath, before starting their next Song, this one definitely dedicated to those living.

_‘Come, carry your hope wherever you walk, watch that light on your journey without an end.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I really look up anatomy of the feather just to be more or less accurate in describing shelter's system while all our heroes suffer? Yes, yes I did.  
> Did I really have to end it with Yukyuu no Philia? No, but I love this song's message, and I was strongly tempted to add Hikari to umi no sanka as well, just because Ivesta decided to group these together, like on their release cd (also, yes, I practically had Gregorio choreo in Ivesta2 on loop for the few last paragraphs). And finally, yes, Mamoru more or less confesses to Kouki through a Song, probably without even realizing it. Sue me.


	6. Enrai, once again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing is deceiptively long... not much happens, actually, beyond the very finale, tho... lots of foreshadowing...lots of bad feelings...and finally, a bit of fluff, because how can there be a vampire chapter without fluff.

Shiki sighs.

In all honesty, he’d love to be anywhere else right now, preferably in his room, Composing the newest Song that would not leave him alone.

With Rikka and Tsubasa hyperfixated on figuring out his Muse cycle, as they dubbed it, he had almost all of his Singers actively participate in Composing process. Although... calling spending time in the same room as him „active” was a bit of an overkill. Not that he complained, all of them had their charms.

Dai grew comfortable around him, he could easily tell... even if from outside, they changed nothing of their behavior around each other. But, just sitting and enjoying each other’s companionship in silence that now grew much more comfortable was a giant progress.

Rikka was out of question, with over forty years of living together, they practically didn’t have to communicate in a any way to know what was going on with the other. He usually sat near Shiki, planning the cooking dates with Growth’s Kouki (recently, he mentioned their number in the meetings growing? He caught echoes of Songs belonging to Shu clinging to Rikka, so he can only hope that this relationship will help in quicker breaking of the ice between Sword and Shield Units, when they finally meet), and their meals for a week or so. Sometimes, much to Shiki’s chagrin, he ended up cleaning his room, which, while nice, and probably needed, was embarrassing.

Rikka wasn’t his mother. Scratch that, even his mother didn’t clean his room for him.

Tsubasa was... well, an Okui, for starters.

There were no way that the sparks wouldn’t fly if they were left alone, the only question was, which way they would fly? An out of control argument? Teasing that will lead to something else, for all of them? Or the argument after which he will be left with three or four additional sheets, with two handwriting styles crossing and clashing together to create even better Song?

It was also fun, because it seemed that Tsubasa’s sight was slowly catching up to his Muse changes, as the hunter more and more often requests the presence of one of the other Singers, just for Shiki to realize that, indeed, the Song specifically demanded them.

Tsubasa was amazing, he’s found himself admitting less and less reluctantly. Of course, all his Singers were, but with Rikka, he’s known it for as long as they’ve known each other, and Dai made it really easy to admit about himself, even if the teen himself didn’t believe it.

(He’s really pleased with the fact that all three of them disagree strongly with Dai about that. They just need to work out a way to convince him of his awesomeness without overwhelming him, which... well with their characters might be a bit hard, but hey, Dai wasn’t a softie, either.)

On the other hand Tsubasa... with realization of what made his Singer into a person he was today, a cocky, self-assured, but also incredibly hard-working and demanding of himself man, Shiki finds himself more at peace with thinking about him as „amazing”. Telling him that usually results with annoying reactions, though, so for now, he’ll leave it in his mind.

Anyway, back to the topic, he still would rather come back to the dorm and spend rest of the day with his Singers than sit here, awaiting the start of the Highs’ meeting, but well, some obligations he couldn’t push on Keito, and lately he was starting to feel slight guilt at throwing everything onto his little brother, even if he was sure said little brother would be a better head overall, and didn’t hide that opinion from their father.

Then again, there was also a matter of his second little brother-

Walking through the door just as he was thinking that, an aura of elation unsuitable for a boring meeting like that, in Shiki’s opinion.

‘You’re in a good mood, Shu.’ he notes dryly from his place to the side, and younger vampire turns on his spot.

‘Shiki!’ he comes over and Shiki nods at the chair next to himself. Sitting, Shu adds, ‘I was sure you’d push today’s meeting on Keito-kun as well...’

‘I’m not this mean. Plus, I wanted to check on you.’ Shiki smiles dryly. ‘Though you seem to be in good spirits.’

‘I just had the most successful training session in years.’ Shu answers, and his eyes are shining. ‘They grow up so fast, it’s absolutely amazing.’

‘Let us meet them sometime, oi.’ Shiki smirks. ‘I’d like to meet those kids who gave us all these headaches with their voices.’

Shu chuckles.

‘Rikka will never stop teasing us after he got it right on his first guess.’ he says, but there’s fondness in his eyes, with a bit of something else, something really soft, and Shiki hums to himself. ‘Speaking of whom, thank him for me for the advises on the food. Twins loved gratin.’

‘Is that so.’ Shiki looks at his little brother figure carefully. ‘And you’ll be okay?’

‘I am.’ Shu confirms, though his openly blissful expression changes to something more serious. ‘Or like, I will make it, this time. For all of us. Eichi knows about it, after all.’

‘Ho.’ Shiki sounds vaguely impressed. Shu hated mentioning happenings of the Great Tragedy to anyone, even within his Group. It seemed one of the Singers in Shield Unit had a really good influence on him. Shiki already has a good idea what kind of influence. ‘I guess I don’t even have to ask, but... that Eichi is your Muse, huh?’

‘Most likely.’ Shu grins at him. ‘Speaking of which, what is that I hear about you and rotational Muse? What’s that even-’

Shiki groans, and Shu laughs.

‘You’re insufferable, I swear.’

‘I’m just worried you’re biting more than you can chew.’ Shu stops. ‘That just now was human saying, right?’

Shiki confirms, and Shu frowns slightly.

‘I thought I had it under control...’

Shiki pats his back.

‘Welcome to the club.’ he says lightly. ‘Among Composers we don’t have to worry about that, since all of us have those slip ups, and I guess you won’t have to worry too much anyway, since you’re mr Group head.’

‘Can you stop calling it strangely.’

‘No?’ Shiki ruffles Shu’s hair. ‘For all your growing up, you’re still my little brother figure, in a lot of meanings.’

Shu pats his hair down, smiling wryly.

‘I hope Keito-kun won’t hate me for that.’

‘He’s already passing his condolences.’ dryly returns Shiki, before they are interrupted, as this or that High comes closer to greet them.

Shiki sighs internally. That was also why he disliked these meetings. Did the world missed his memo when he was saying he isn’t really good with social interactions?

Shu saves him from using up his tolerance to a chit-chat by taking over most of their social obligations (he does greet Arihara’s heir, so he’s not completely useless, even if that’s the vampire from his partner unit), and soon, it’s time to start the meeting anyway, so they all sit down, around the round table. It starts with another boring speech and Shiki zones out, trying to stifle his snicker once he notices Shu moving his fingers in a rhythm only he can hear, proving his little brother figure also lets the voice of the head of the council drift above him in favor of listening to his Singers’ voices.

He should probably do the same. At least then, he won’t waste as much time on listening to the vampires arguing.

It works for about half of the meeting, when the vampires touch upon certain issue, and Shu’s fingers still, and hair on the back of Shiki’s neck stand up.

He’s got a bad feeling about this.

‘There’s an investigation going on humans’ side, something about missing kids.’ huffs one of the Highs responsible for introducing the issue. ‘Nothing enough to worry us, at best nine disappeared from the start of this quarter, but naturally, since they cannot explain it, they turn to us as the suspects.’

There’s a fair number of snorts from all around room, but the voice speaking up has none of their amusement.

‘Do we know more about the cases?’ Arihara’s heir, surprisingly present on the meeting, asks, voice tense. ‘Age group, genders, anything?’

‘Why would we bother? It’s humans’ problem.’ somebody scoffs, and Shiki braces himself.

‘In case you didn’t notice, some of us are responsible for humans.’ Shu’s voice is calm, but it carries smallest of reprimands. ‘And our main source of blood is also people.’

‘Adults, we have an agreement not to touch kids, which, if I remember correctly-’

‘-was implemented after consultation with the Groups’ inner rules and choosing the one with biggest potential to succeed in general society.’ smoothly fills in Kisaragi Konomi, current head of the Kisaragi group. ‘Inded, and that’s also why we’re bothered by your dismissal. We don’t have to explain to you, how adult people are made?’

Shiki must admit, this type of sweet, motherly savageness was impressive, even if he was used to it thanks to Rikka. To other Highs, it had to be deadly, huh.

‘It’s not like we don’t-’

‘Then don’t belittle issues just because they can start being problems to us only in a few years.’

‘There are still only nine cases for the whole Tokyo!’ protests somebody from the other side of the table, and Shiki stares disbelievingly.

‘NINE cases, and only now hunters turn to us?’ he asks incredulously, before turning to Shu. ‘You have any info on it happening in other shelters? Unless there were other clues, there’s no way this or that High family wouldn’t be informed and start scruntizing vampires by the third case.’

Shu shakes his head.

‘I... aside of the increase of rouge vampires in Hokkaido region, and all things this kind of raise implies, I wasn’t reported anything out of ordinary. Is any other Group...’

He drifts off, seeing shaking of heads of most High Guardians.

‘It’s possible they were scruntizing, just not Highs - on either side.’ slowly says Kisaragi. ‘When did it start again?’

‘About a month and half ago?’ the vampire bringing the original information answers, before catching himself. ‘But, I just wanted to warn everyone of the ridiculous assumption made by hunters, not for us to dissect the case they should take care of!’

‘If we don’t want them messing with our job, it will be better to carry out investigation on our side, though.’ consciously points out Shiki. ‘It’s not like even the assumption vampires as a collective started once again abducting children isn’t hurting the fragile balance we have worked out.’

There’s a moment when everybody digests his point, before somebody protests.

‘But we never had children abduction assigned to us!’

‘Really?’ Shiki reaches quickly into his connection with Rikka. He ignores amusement of the Changer, as he confirms the information he got. ‘Right, those were faeries. But, we were mixed up with any other creature humans called mythical. It’s a safe assumption that if the word that we negate the existence of the problem gets out, it will be easy for discrimination and conflict to raise on the streets. Which might be actual goal of the kidnappers, as among the chaos, it will be easier to mask trafficking.’

‘We get your point, Takamura.’ slowly nods one of the eldest Highs in the room. ‘But, I still think it’s irresponsible to dedicate our energy to solving that case, especially since Hunters apparently are already on it.’

‘Not everyone.’ slowly speaks up Arihara, before turning to his son. ‘You were saying your project was cut?’

‘I believe I used „put on indefinite Recovery” as the term, but yes. Etous had some serious accident in one of their outer shelters, and as such, Growth’s leader had to focus on that.’ Morihito returns, and Shiki easily can see, just how much younger Arihara is meandering so as not to give out how much he knows. Soara and Growth were on a really friendly terms - well, all of new project Units were, really, so all of them knew quite a lot of what happened two weeks ago in Feather Village.

That didn’t mean other High vampires should have info on potentially vulnerable spot of one of the more powerful Support High families. Arihara senior still nods, as if just this snippet confirmed his theory.

‘Then there are Okuis, who for the time being have their young head that is... occupied, with Takamura-san’s here.’

Shiki hums.

‘It’s true the situation on the Field probably distracted them and few more High families.’ he says, ignoring the suggestive phrasing and tone of other Arihara. ‘But, Okuis currently are in the rarely recorded comfortable position of two heads being alive, with Tsubasa’s father retiring from Field before he’s gotten killed there, and taking over as a stative head.’

‘Shiki, I don’t think he’d appreciate you outing inner workings of his clan to us.’ Shu carefully points out, but stops as Shiki smiles wryly.

‘Believe me, this clan went through too much to be collapsed by just this little info getting out. Plus, it’s not like they’re hiding it.’ he says, before sighing. ‘But that’s not the point. The point is, I don’t believe they started checking us out only now. And, since I want to hope we really do not have anything to do with those disappearances, that means their investigation is wasting time following fake lead.’

‘And that means, children are still at risk. Including those under our care.’ finishes Kisaragi, and Shiki nods. ‘That’s indeed a worrying scenario. But, I keep wondering, where are those children? Shelters are enclosed spaces, and our communication canals are pretty smooth-working. Dissapearing in that situation is...’

‘We need more information to properly analyze it. It’s possible they’re just in a region unapproachable to humans- in which case we’d better find culprit ourselves, so that only selected vampires carry burden of human’s blame- or a place where communication is controlled by the kidnappers.’ Arihara senior says. ‘There’s also third option, that this is fabricated by humans themselves...’

‘In which case it will also be beneficial if we expose it.’ Arihara junior finishes his father’s thought. ‘So, the best course of action would be our active participation in the investigation of the case.’

‘Indeed.’ Arihara senior nods. ‘But, I doubt we’ll be a welcome aid to the already ongoing human investigation, so I’d rather start our own.’

There are few voices agreeing with him, but then Kisaragi speaks up again.

‘We still should make sure not to act too independently, though.’ she says, her hands forming a small pyramid.

‘So as not to look as if we try to hide something, huh.’ Shu says, and other head smiles at him with a nod. ‘Perhaps it’s a good idea to split the work, then.’

Before anybody can ask him what does he mean, he turns to another High.

‘Arihara-san. I think you and your son could take it as another interesting case of study from our side.’ he suggests. ‘From my side, we should be able to reach out to Etous, some of my members are Soul Spirit Users, so we’ve had previous contacts on that field. It shouldn’t raise too many suspicions.’

‘Ah, good idea.’ praises Kisaragi. ‘Then, since Etou family would be covering Support, I think we can get in contact with Battle-oriented families.’

‘You plan to reach out for Mutsukis and Hanazonos?’ Shiki asks with mild interest, then observes with no small amount of glee as many Highs shift in place at the mention of strongest Hunter families... well, probably in all of Japan. Head of Kisaragis looks with mild bemusement at the reactions of her fellow vampires, before answering softly.

‘I don’t think Mutsuki-kun will have time to chat with us, but Hanazono-chan and Ai are still in the shelter, since their teammates are yet to recover.’

‘It was a hard mission.’ Shiki says, as if that was explaining everything, and it seemed to cheer the head of Kisaragis up.

‘And they returned from it safely in one piece, too!’ she says with a smile directed at the other High. ‘So, we should be able to address this inner issue, too. Although with help of those that should be able to focus on the Field...’

‘It’s a closed system.’ dryly notes Shiki. ‘If there’s a mess inside, what would be the point of protecting it from the outside?’

‘Is that so.’ Kisaragi smiles, as if once more not noticing subtle shifting happening in other seats. The Organizer of this meeting clears his throat.

‘Since we have this issue cleared, we perhaps should move on... next is, the price increase in material transport between Kaze and Shigemi regions...’

Shiki once again tries to mute out the conversation and focus on the Songs, but it proves harder than before. Shu’s Song is resounding with worry just next to him, and soon enough, Shiki connects the dots. Or rather, the sounds.

He leans towards his neighbor carefully.

‘You can ask them to keep inside the Tsukino grounds for the time being.’ he says lowly, and Shu looks at him in surprise. ‘Besides, they have you and your other Singer- Eichi, was it. They’ll be fine.’

His brother figure blinks at him, before smiling slightly.

‘Sorry for disturbing you.’

Shiki just shakes his head.

He’ll probably have to catch Shu after the meeting and beat into him the fact Solids is there to help, but oh well, it wasn’t the first time. Besides, he was curious about the children that managed to steal Shu’s heart in less than three months...

*

Ryota walks through the hallway that’s mostly glass and shiny white and blue floor.

Technically speaking, he, an earth dweller, shouldn’t have anything to do here, in the airborne Spirit Users’ main residence in Tokyo.

Technically.

Of course, those seeing him are instantly wary, and Ryota focuses on not making an eye contact. If he reads a challenge in even one pair, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back in the air of common distrust that thickens around him with each step. He knew it would happen, but it still makes him angry, so he avoids eye-contact also because he doesn’t want to be the reason the conflict even is created.

He hugs the unassuming folder held in hands closer to himself. Thank god he knew the way by heart right now, and really, the air of wariness was still much better than open hostility he got the first time he came to visit-

‘Ryo?’

-him. Ryota raises his head, to meet his counterpart’s shiny green, and mentally sighs in relief, while scowling slightly externally.

‘Found you, Ken, finally.’

‘That, you did, but wha-’ Kensuke eyes land on the folder, and instantly light up. ‘Let’s go to my room.’

‘That was my plan.’ Ryota says dryly, and tries his best to hide relief as Kensuke dismisses his comment with a chuckle.

‘Yes, yes...’

Once they reach the door from the dark wood, one of the very few not painted white or blue, Ryota almost convinces himself everything is back to normal.

Almost.

He looks around the room - he haven’t been at Ken’s for a good while, but it didn’t change that much, maybe there were a bit less of personal belongings, most important ones moved to their dorm rooms... an empty spot after one or the other picture... yes, almost as if nothing changed. Almost.

‘How do you feel?’ he asks his host, before Ken can even open his mouth. ‘And don’t try to lie.’

‘I know, I know, last time I tried ended in disaster, didn’t it.’ Ken chuckles a bit underwhelmingly, even as he sits at the bed (green covers), and pats a place next to himself. Ryota takes the offer, deciding cleaning the only chair from the mountain of clothes and books wasn’t worth it. ‘Right now, I feel mostly restless. That’s true, oi.’

He adds, seeing how Ryota’s eyes sharpen. Then, he sighs.

‘I guess it still doesn’t feel real... but it almost sunk in. Mamoru’s Song has helped.’ he smiles wryly. ‘You know what kind of advice this guy gave me, before we were send on that hiatus, and Kou practically kicked me out to here?’

Ryota tilts his head in mute question.

‘Cry a lot and Sing a lot, and then you’ll feel better.’ Kensuke recites, and other User snorts. Roc’s vessel smiles. ‘Yeah, I know, ridiculous.’

‘But it seemed to work?’ Ryota asks slowly, and Kensuke nods, just as slowly.

‘It’s weird, isn’t it?’ he says softly. ‘It felt like an advice he gave based on experience... but, it’s not like we can Sing alone, right?’

‘Not necessarily.’ Ryota answers. ‘Kou has said it, right? That the barrier we encountered in his village was the result of Mamoru’s Song.’

‘Yeah, but I thought it was a Composer’s thing!’

‘Or maybe that’s another, completely unrelated power of the Songs.’ Ryota says softly. He then sighs. ‘Either way, I’m glad, I don’t have to keep it away from you.’

‘You were going to?!’ Kensuke looks at him in shock, even as his hand already grips at the folder, and Ryota snorts, pushing the thing towards him.

‘Kou told me to decide after meeting with you. I’d say you’re on the line, but I give you benefit of the doubt, based on our long relationship.’

‘Right.’ Ken’s voice changes tones, and Ryota is wary. ‘Ryo, about what I did in the Feather Village, I’m sor-’

Ryota’s hand muffles rest of his words.

‘Don’t.’ Serpent’s vessel warns. ‘I simply paid off the debt. If you want to apologize, say it to Kouki, after you meet, for worrying him.’

He takes his hand away.

‘Beyond that, we’re clear-’ he stops, as Kensuke catches his hand, green eyes sharpening suddenly. ‘Ken?’

‘...Are you in your molting season?’ his counterpart asks, and Ryota can only stare at him, before feeling heat crawling up his cheeks.

‘Excuse me?!’

‘You’re colder than usual.’ Kensuke is unbothered by his hostility as he cradles his hand between his palms, and Ryota realizes, he _was_ cold.

‘I’m... you know it’s not the time, it’s still...’ he looks on the calendar set on Kensuke’s desk. Month of September greets him. ‘I... we both should have at least a month to go before it happens, yet.’

‘In normal condition.' Kensuke still warms his hand. ‘But, you took over, right? My duties.’

‘Well, obviously, I couldn’t leave Kou alone with all of it, right?’ Ryota says, then adds sharply. ‘It was not your fault, so don’t even think about it.’

Ken chuckles weakly.

‘Alright, I’ll let you have this one. But.’ he looks at their still joined hands, visibly making up a decision. ‘It’s possible to change the molting cycle with a stress, right? So, it’s possible that I- the situation made you overwork yourself, and you went into too early molting.’

‘That’s- Ken?!’ Ryota exclaims as Kensuke moves closer, and opens his wings. ‘Why are you-’

‘Kou released my first level before sending me away.’ Kensuke explains, wrapping the feathery appendage around Ryota. ‘He's said he won't lock it again until we're back at Tsukino...which should be soon, but, that's not the point. Ne, Ryo, I wanna help. You’ll return the favor in a month, when I get into mine. Alright?’

‘You’re being unfair.’ Ryota says, even as his body betrays him and he leans into the heat source at his side, shivering. ‘You know how molting feels like.’

Uncomfortable. Itchy. Weak and vulnerable. In Ryota’s case, cold. Kensuke hums in agreement, letting his arm wrap around his counterpart.

‘I do, that’s why I want to help.’

‘Your family wouldn’t be pleased if they saw it.’ Ryota tries last line of defense, but Kensuke just shrugs.

‘They also know you’re helping me through my molting season while I’m away, so. They really have nothing to say in that matter. Ne, Ryo? I know you don’t want to make any troubles, but in that case, wouldn’t letting me help, at least temporarily, be the best course of action?’

For Ryota, molting meant waves of cold that could last up to a week. While he could fight it off with warm drinks and clothes, to remain somewhat functioning, it also resulted in his exhaustion and discomfort, that would disappear only at the end of the season, with a long period of meditation during which his state and skin of his Soul Spirit would finally change, leaving both it and Ryota stronger than ever. Still, for that to happen, he needed to prepare, and keeping warm was one of the surefire tactics to keep molting as short and painless as possible.

Because Kensuke’s molting season made him heated up and yearning for cool, they ended up reassuring each other, spending their molting seasons together at Kouki’s apartament, where neither of them was an intruder. Making Kensuke know all about Ryota's molting. And how to convince him during it.

Ryota sighs.

‘And we had managed to bring our cycles so close together, too.’ he grumbles, snuggling closer to Kensuke, and Bird User knows he’s won. Rapid shift in Ryota’s behavior was also a sign of the molting, other retainer rarely ever used his words to complain pointlessly. And rarely ever let himself show his vulnerability.

‘We can synchro them again afterwards.’ he says consolingly to the other User, letting his wing close tighter around Ryota, while reaching for the files.

‘And I was supposed to let you come back at your own pace, too.’ Ryota grumbles again, and that gives Kensuke’s a pause.

‘You were that worried about me?’

Ryota curls into himself, which, with Kensuke’s feathers around him, makes him look like a feathered ball. Kensuke knows where to look, though, and so, he can easily spot the tinges of red ears, poking from under silver hair.

‘O-obviously. We’re rivals, but also, teammates, right? Growth doesn’t feel complete without even one person.’ Ryota stutters out, then even more quietly adds. ‘It doesn’t feel right without you.’

Kensuke holds his breath before slowly exhaling. He knew this kind of sincerity didn’t come easy to his counterpart. He also knows that this is specifically why it’s absolutely honest opinion, too, and it makes his wings tingle and his heart flutter. Wait, shouldn’t that be the other way around?

‘Alright then.’ he says, and hopes his exhilaration at Ryota’s confession don’t slip into his voice - at least doesn’t do that much. ’Maybe you can then introduce me to the situation as I look through the file, then? You know the reports never tell a whole story. Plus- wait, was that a scoresheet?’

‘Yeah.’ Ryota nods, picking up the aforementioned paper. ‘It’s yours.’

‘Mine?’ Kensuke blinks, but something in the softness of Ryota’s smile leaves him completely off-guard

‘Yeah. Mamoru decided to try and unwind our Solos, after we came back. He even got Shiki-san’s advice on that.’ he touches the scores. ‘He played few notes of yours while I was in the room. It’s nice.’

The tingling is back, but this time he can easily tell what is the cause - Ryota rarely ever honestly complimented people not Kouki. If his Song was good enough to make him...

‘I can’t wait to Sing it for you.’ he says, not really realizing the last part until it was out of his mouth. Whoops. Whatever. ‘It does look like it would be fun. And then, I want to listen to yours.’

‘...once I hear yours.’ Ryota promises him quietly, and that’s the best he’ll probably get from him. Well, he doesn’t need more.

‘Alright then! That’s a promise! Now, let's get those reports done with!’

*

‘...but, to wrap it up on a more positive note, we also have report from Altair, regarding Special Units. Half of Fluna, and two of Seleas are already back in a Field condition. If this recovery trend continues, both teams will be capable of returning by the middle of next month.’ Kurotsuki finishes his briefing, and Tsukino sighs.

‘Thank you. At least this much.’ he says, before turning to Kanade. ‘Did we get an info on decisions of both High councils that happened today?’

‘Well, we still wait for human one, they should have started by now. Both leaders of SQ, as well as Soara’s Arihara has returned a bit while ago. According to all three, there should be no intervention on our Field work, although there’s a risk of them slowing down due to the involvement with inner issue.’ Kanade look at his sheet. ‘They have yet to gather details, but it apparently is something Hunters also will discuss, a kidnapping incidents with a chance of interracial trafficking involved.’

Tsukino sighs.

‘There’s no way this won’t backfire onto us, but let’s hope we’ll manage to minimize losses. Alright. Now, Fumihiko, you were saying we have some inside issues to address?’

‘Yes, indeed. It’s actually about the Shield Unit.’ Haizuki corrects his glasses. ‘Backstage Battle expressed their displeasure at the choice of potential members over them; I think you should meet with the leader of squad thirteen yourself, though, to gauge the situation. I also think we should inform Izumi-kun, although I suspect that, if rumors I’ve heard are true, he’ll be informed by his Singers.’

‘That’s bad.’ Tsukino frowns. ‘I hoped they would have more time to adjust to their new situation, but, if there are protests rising, they will have to prove themselves soon...’

He hums thoughtfully.

‘For now, let’s see how situation develops. Growth should be returning to duty any time now, and situation on the Field seems to have settled for a bit, provided eastern nest doesn’t awake again soon, or that western nest won’t breach its’ protections. With four main conglomerates under control, we should be able to focus on our inner situation a bit more. Still, with kidnappings happening in the shelters... for now let's ask Unit members not to move in groups less than two, just in case. Though I really hope nothing happens.’

*

Kouki looks around.

‘Mamoru, I need you to wait for me here. Will this be alright?’ he asks, and vampire at his side smiles easily.

‘Yes, sir!’

Kouki throws him an apologetic look.

‘Sorry, I’d love not to separate, but...’

‘Kou-kun, Kou-kun!’ Mamoru quickly flails his hands. ‘I also would rather not, but even more, I'd like not to stay in the room with the strongest people of the shelters, all capable of snapping my neck in one move? So it’s alright. Plus, this place is also gorgeous.’

Kouki smiles gently.

‘Mother will be glad to hear you say that- she’s the one to design this room’s interior. She wanted to make it as comfortable for Ground Spirit Users as possible. I hoped it would mean also for you.’

‘As always, you spoil me.’ Mamoru’s smile is adoring, cheeks slightly pink, and Kouki needs to look away a bit quicker than usual. The room interior, all in soft materials and various shades of green and brown, helps him calm down.

‘Make yourself at home. I’ll come as soon as the meet ends, but it’s possible Ryota will come before me.’ he hesitates. ‘If he does, the blankets are in the drawer in the corner. He might need them, if Ken is not with him.’

‘He might?’ Mamoru blinks up at him. ‘Uh, okay?’

‘Right, your Soul Spirit is from the mammals, isn’t he.’ Kouki hums. ‘Ask the two of them to explain, if they, or just one of them, come before me. If not, once we’re back to the dorms-’

‘Kouki~ I know you need to make your pet comfortable, but it will not look well if the son of the host of this meet is late for the council.’ blond head with golden eyes peek into the room. ‘Yo, Fujimura. Good job on those Solos, they look really good from my perspective.’

‘Okui-san.’ Kouki turns to the newcomer. ‘Are you sure you can speak about your skill so freely? Also, how did you manage to slip into here? I was sure I choose the more secluded room...’

‘I’m actually worried you don’t even react to my first sentence.’ Tsubasa looks at the Growth members in the room. ‘Both of you, actually.’

When they continue to just stare at him, confused, he sighs.

‘Okay, whatever feels right to you. Back to your question, it’s because it’s secluded I had an easy time finding you. Even with that seal on, if you know what to look for, Fujimura is pretty obvious target.’ he looks around the room. ‘Just for the record, those walls are also good mufflers, but getting him mixed among other sounds would be even better camouflage.’

He shrugs.

‘Not that anybody else will look for you, if we get on a move soon, so~ It’s not like it’s important, this time.’

‘But, that’s a good advice for the future consideration.’ Kouki says with a nod. ‘Though then, Ryo or Ken will be able to stay with Mamoru as well.’

He turns to the vampire.

‘I’m going now, but you know how to get my attention, right?’

‘Yes, sir!’ Mamoru mock-salutes, before pulling out few sheets of paper and sitting on a sofa with rich green tapestry. ‘Though I might do it accidentally too, sorry about that~’

‘No, those are nice distractions, definitely.’ Kouki smiles softly, and Mamoru blushes again. ‘Then, see you soon.’

‘Yes, good luck on the council!’

He closes the door to the sight of the cheerfully waving vampire, then sighs with a soft smile.

‘You both are completely smitten with each other, you know.’ Tsubasa calmly comments, once they both turn and move deeper into corridor on their left. Kouki pauses for half a step.

‘Aesodius has said similar thing, when we discussed things lately.’ he says. Tsubasa looks at him expectantly. ‘But, I don’t think we need to do anything with that.’

‘Why?!’ Tsubasa almost stumbles. Kouki hums.

‘One, we’re together anyway, it’s enough. Two...’ he hesitates, looking at Tsubasa, as if calculating something. Then, he sighs. ‘Two, Mamoru is already bound to me. I won’t use his feelings to make him even more disadvantaged against my family than he already is.’

Tsubasa opens his mouth, ready to protest, but then closes them, and hums in thought.

‘You know it’s your feelings? Not only Mamoru’s.’ he finally settles on saying, and Kouki smiles softly.

‘Yeah, but I won’t burden him with that, more than it’s required for our Songs. I promised myself I won’t.’

Tsubasa sighs heavily.

‘And here I thought Composers have a dumb sense of responsibility... Alright.’ he says, turning to Kouki. ‘I won’t press, but seriously, not everything is about power struggle, Kouki. Trust me on that, I have the idiot who Changed a human on the premise their Song sounded interesting to him in my Unit, after all.’

‘That’s the reason Rikka-san is...?’ Kouki asks, and Tsubasa hums softly.

‘According to the acts of the Lily Village Incident, yes.’ he says, as they near the giant door leading to the council room in the middle of the Etou’s manor. ‘According to the people- well, vampires involved, though, he was saving a life on top of that, so. It wasn’t that bad.’

The men standing just outside the room salute as soon as they notice Kouki, and open the door in front of the two heirs, not letting Kouki ponder on Tsubasa’s words for much longer.

They were practically in set now, he registers, even as he quietly moves to his seat next to his father. There were few heirs lacking, namely Mutsuki family's, but he was replaced by the presence of his cousin, and Kouki returns the polite smile Yuki throws him over the table. He looks over rest of the seats.

Yes, most of the families had their representatives, and at least one person from the younger generation. Hopefully, it will be a fruitful meeting.

He looks at his father questioningly, and Etou senior nods. Kouki turns to the two young ladies behind their chairs.

‘Sakuraba-san, Yaegashi-san.’ he softly addresses elder sisters of his retainers. ‘We should start.’

The two nod, then, without looking at each other, start passing stacks of papers around the table, each sheet containing a brief info on the topic meant to be discussed. Kouki catches a grimace Tsubasa has on his face, when receiving his copy. He also notices the way he instantly checks his stack, instead of throwing it on the table like most of Highs did, still busy with chatting among themselves. It takes Kouki’s father clearing his throat - loudly - for the hum of the talk to quieten.

‘Thank you for coming to our regular meeting gentlemen - and ladies, obviously.’

Yuki just smiles amused, Yuno tilts her head as if the addition didn’t really include her, and both Mizuki and Akane just sighed. Elder huntresses don’t even blink an eye.

‘As you could see from the files you were just handed, we have quite a number of issues to discuss - all of those are inner shelters matters, though. Since our family specializes in both on-site and backstage Support, I want Kouki to give brief overview of Field situation as well. Although I hope to dedicate today’s meet to inner issues you have got described in front of you, it’s good to know we don’t solve them in void. Kouki.’

‘Yes, father.’ Kouki stands up. ‘Since there’s quite a lot of matters we want to discuss in detail, allow me to be brief, as I believe most of families gathered here receive their own individual reports from their members active on the Field. Current situation...’

He talks over the brief situation on the Field, of the rapid fall of Marionettes’ activity in regions believed to be under influence of northern and southern nests, of the raise of eastern incidents. After just a brief eye contact with Tsubasa, he mentions western nest’s situation (ignoring the way Hozuki shifts in place uncomfortably at the mention of „as stable as ever”), and then summarizes the state of their forces.

That’s where the first mess starts.

‘What do you mean „below minimal”?!’ incredulously speaks up Inari’s head, one of the more prominent Support families. ‘You just said the Field is under control!’

‘For the time being.’ Kouki nods. ‘However, the solutions implemented to keep the three nests under control are temporary. More temporary than a Song of the Seven was.’

‘As someone included in the mission to the southern nest, I agree with Etou-kun.’ very calmly speaks up Yuki. ‘Our barriers were created with power of six extremely skilled fighters, amplified by newest technology, but if that was enough to deal with the issue, we would destroy the nests, instead of just cutting them off - even at the price of permanent damages to our cores, it would be a small price. Obviously, it was not the case, and while I am glad I will be able to come back and support our Field efforts, I also must regretfully say that, if we keep what we were doing until now, within a year we will be back to square one.’

‘At the same time, we register shortage of the active independent Units.’ Mizuki adds. ‘Both Battle and Support, resulting in the overwork of the already active ones.’

‘And if someone says that’s not a problem, I want to say, just within Tsukino we have two Units that will return to Field just a day after contracting Despair.’ Tsubasa says, raising hand, and looking around. ‘While the victims were healed instantly after finishing their mission - obviously - I’m sure at least some of you know how that feels? Getting into contact with Despair, then fighting it out of your body?’

There are few really tired nods around the room. Tsubasa hums in agreement with them.

‘While Soara should be relieved soon, provided Growth is on their way to a proper return...’ he looks questioningly at Kouki, who nods with a small smile. Tsubasa nods back. ‘SolidS will still remain the major striker for Tsukino, even after Shield Unit finalizes its’ creation, since their job will be defense. That means, while we have enough forces for current situation, we don’t have enough of them to tilt said situation in our favor.’

‘Indeed. For now, though, it’s simply a matter we’d like for you to have at the back of your mind, pondering on it until the next meeting.’ Kouki says, and Tsubasa sighs, but inclines his head, not protesting at the order of importance set by the host of the meeting. Kouki is honestly glad for that. ‘For a strong outside forces, we need to set a firm pillar inside our community. That’s why, after consultation with various families from our domain, as well as outside sources, we prepared the list of matters we need to check and discuss together. They lay in front of you.’

Kouki looks questioningly to his father, who nods in approval, before standing up, taking the lead of the meeting over. Kouki sits down, letting the stream of conversation be taken over by older hunters and heads.

Discussion of crops distribution causes conflicts like always, but it is within norm. Then, there’s the regular discussion on funding for technology and outer shelter rebuild efforts, that probably could be won single-handedly by the Motomiya heiress, if only she was allowed to go at it alone. As it was, she still bargained them a fair amount, and most ended up pleased with the results.

He chooses to speak up during the mention of revivals of many eastern shelters, to combat the slow overpopulation of the spine, reminding people of the Feather Village’s incident from barely two weeks ago, as a result postponing the idea of revivals in favor of expanding shelters in style of the Feather Village’s segmentation of regions. Much to his surprise, they get through the half of the list, before another mess breaks out.

Or, rather than mess, approach of the other hunters alerts him, and together with him, all of the heirs related to Tsukino.

‘We have ninth victim of the abductions. At this point, it feels like an organized crime circuit. We suspect vampires involvement-’

‘Why even suspect? It’s a given the goddamn bloodsuckers are to blame.’ groans one of the more conservative heads, and Kouki looks at him in shock. Tsubasa sighs exasperatedly, even as his father asks.

‘Do we have any leads on _who_ is actually involved?’ he looks pointedly at Hozuki. ‘Saying „Vampires are involved” is like saying all Tunnel operators will fail to safely coordinate their tools after just one mishap.’

While Hozuki stutters, Kouki’s father speaks up.

‘So far the investigation was led by lesser hunter families. They directed this request to us with appearance of sixth victim, but I believe many of you dismissed the idea of serious issue before.’ he keeps his tone neutral, but Kouki still observes the shift in certain regions of the table. ‘From the information we gathered between sixth and ninth victims’ abductions, we still cannot estimate a suspect, but. We know there has to be at least few groups of criminals involved, and if it’s trafficking, as the lesser hunters suspect...’

‘Then, provided no human High covers that, a vampiric High clan or family has to be involved.’ Tsubasa finishes sentence of the older man. When Etou nods, he leans away on the chair. ‘Do we know more about the victims? Common points, characteristics, anything?’

‘Why does it interests you?’ blinks head of Motomiya, even as Kouki’s father motions for one of the assisting Spirit Users to come forward and consults something with her.

‘Because I have a bad feeling about it, and a growing suspicion we’ll get involved into it, one way or another.’ Tsubasa answers, before focusing on older Etou, who finished silent consultation.

‘The children were aged six to sixteen, mostly boys, although there was also one girl.’ Etou looks at his right, and Ryota’s sister nods. ‘No common traits, beyond being from middle or lower class, usually unrelated to any High...’

Tsubasa hums.

‘No, I’ve no idea about a project that would need something like that on the vampire side.’ he muses, before turning to his father. ‘Am I forgetting something?’

‘What about that one Arihara-’ his father starts, but stops at his son’s shake in negative. ‘They dropped it, huh.’

‘It was a long-term, and their heir is currently strongly opposed to any underground human experimentation.’ Tsubasa says, ignoring bewildered stares thrown his way. ‘With exception of artificial blood multiplication, but they do that in broad - okay, maybe a bit dim- daylight, and we even wish them the best of luck on that, right?’

‘Though we also hope we’ll manage to invent an implementable method before them.’ adds head of Motomiya. ‘It would give us just a bit more advantage in joint projects. Although I’m curious as to why you know this much about Ariharas’ projects.’

‘You guys were the ones who told me to keep an eye on Alive Units from the outside, though?’ Tsubasa blinks innocently at the man, and Kouki raises his hand.

‘Tsubasa-san, I think you’re forgetting I’m in the ro-’

‘It’s not like you didn’t realize I was asked to do that after being asked to supervise SQ from outside and Alive from within, right?’ Tsubasa easily shoots him down, and Kouki sheepishly nods. ‘Although there’s a decent number of hunters in both projects, it’s not like we’re not the only two Highs in there. Asking your retainers to spy against you is basically against nature, and Soara has only one, lesser hunter, who additionally is pretty darn busy just keeping a hand on his Unit’s pulse, so.’

Tsubasa leans back onto table in the absolute silence of the room.

‘Even if council wanted us to work unaware of each other, it’s not like it wasn’t obvious who’s who.’ he grins. ‘Not that it changes much, since I’m pretty sure that just like I have nothing out of ordinary to report about Alive, you have nothing on Solids. Once Shield is formed, you might have more interesting stuff to say, but I honestly doubt it. They look like good kids.’

‘Kids?’ Kouki blinks. ‘Eichi-san is your age, Tsubasa-san? Could it be you’ve met-’

‘Just briefly.’ Tsubasa answers quickly. ’But that’s all the more reason I think we should take care of that trafficker’ incidents quickly... if there’s only one group to deal with.’

‘Please don’t charm it.’ groans somebody from the other side of the table, and Tsubasa smiles wryly.

‘So, back to the victims’ profiles, there’s nothing that could help us in figuring this out?’ slowly asks older Okui, throwing an amused glance his son’s way. Contrary to most elders, with appearance of Alive and SQ, he was strongly opposed to tasking young Highs belonging to the Units with espionage against each other, and part of it was rooted in deep belief that Tsubasa would figure the whole thing out and start controlling the flow of information anyway.

‘Definitely not with only brief lookover we can afford on the council.’ Etou says, but before he’s able to continue, somebody from Hozuki’s side of the table speaks up.

‘None of the victims were members of the Groups, right?’ asks man with a look of overgrown cupid, with curly blond hair and blue eyes. Kouki instantly notices how cold and calculative they are, when his father looks at Ryota’s sister, and the young woman shakes her head. ‘Then, that might be our first lead.’

Kouki blinks, Yuki stiffens, and Tsubasa outright snorts.

‘Don’t tell me you want to bring the abducted by fairies syndrome into this! Nakamura-san!’ he says in disbelief, but the other man tilts his head.

‘Don’t you find it strange, though? Children disappear, and no head is reacting-’

‘Ah.’ Kouki says softly, his eyes glazing over, before he turns to his father. ‘Might I be excused for a moment? There’s an Izumi Spirit User wishing to meet with one of us in the foyer.’

‘Your retainers?’ his father quirks an eyebrow at him, and Kouki nods. ‘Ask them to get the premise of the matter out of him.’

‘It’s... oh. It’s about the issue we’re discussing currently.’ Kouki says, Ryota’s message short, and to the point. Shortness still doesn’t hide chill his retainer feels, and Kouki frowns softly in concern. Better hurry, so that Ryota can rest. Hopefully, Ken is with them... ‘I’d rather ask for the details personally, but it seems hunters that were leading an investigation informed High vampires about officially suspecting involvement of their race today.’

‘While suspecting them since the sixth victim or earlier, huh.’ mutters Tsubasa, but doesn’t interrupt, as older Etou nods his head.

‘You can figure out what Izumi is planning?’

Kouki hesitates, his eyes running to Tsubasa.

‘If I’m right in my assumption, he wants to hurry the investigation. We’re probably just convenient partners, since we have common people we want to protect. Izumis have three Spirit Users just within Tokyo within the age range we’ve talked about.‘ he explains to the room as a whole. ‘And if Tsubasa-san saw right...’

‘Then Darling’s precious little brother figure is getting personal.’ Tsubasa nods. ‘I guess it would fit, there’s nothing more overprotective than a Composer who’s met his Singers for the first time.’

Kouki agrees. Even if in Mamoru’s case it wasn’t as visible, due to his gentle and well... clumsy nature, the fact the violence-hating vampire was dispatching with them in the first place was a proof enough.

Speaking of which... he probably was with Ryo and Ken, receiving the messenger. Another reason to hurry.

His father seems to read his mind, for he sighs.

‘Alright, you know our stance on the whole issue. As long as it’s cooperation, and seems sincere. I’ll leave judgement up to you, report as soon as you manage to decide on something substantial.’

‘Understood. Then, if you’ll excuse me.’

‘Good luck.’ his fathers sends him away, and Kouki can hear his voice, even as he exits the room and door closes behind him. ‘So, there you have it, Nakamura-san, the reaction you were missing from the Group's head. Since trying to forcibly push the investigation forward during just this meeting time is unwise, let’s select a candidate to take over checking the details...’

The door close with a soft click, and Kouki suddenly realizes, he’s got the same feeling as Tsubasa.

That this case will not leave Tsukino Units alone.

*

‘Sora, is Mori-ah.’ Soushi quietly closes the door to their Composer’s room, seeing his friend pressing his finger to his lips, while simultaneously using other hand to pet the mop of blond hair currently tucked against his stomach. Still, Mori stirs and backs away from Sora at the sound of Soushi’s footsteps. He relaxes visibly, seeing -or maybe just recognizing a silhouette of- other human. With his glasses off, he looked strange, Soushi decides; almost vulnerable.

‘Hard meeting?’ he asks dryly, and Mori just sighs, before shaking his head.

‘I tried to get Morihito-kun to spill what’s going on for the past fifteen minutes, but he just keeps being like this.’ Sora pipes in, before vampire can gather himself to answer.

Mori shakes his head again.

‘Sorry, I’m being unsightly.’ he says, before stopping, as Soushi reaches out to ruffle his already messy hair. ‘Soushi?’

‘And who cares if you’re unsightly?’ hunter states the obvious. ‘In case you didn’t notice, there are no Highs here to maintain your professional facade for.’

He pauses.

‘Which makes me wonder, where’s...’

‘Nozomu? He’s meeting with his brother right now.’ Mori answers, before carefully taking Soushi’s hand away from his hair. He doesn’t let go of it, though. ‘I’ve left them just outside the building the council took place at. Now, you probably should greet Sora properly - you were out since this morning, right?’

‘I see.’ Soushi hums, even as he absentmindedly reaches out and ruffles Sora’s hair as well, making Mori snort softly and Sora whine. ‘Yeah, I was walking Ren to the dojo, before dealing with minor stuff for our family. Speaking of which, Ren will stay outside today, they have some preparations to do, competition or something like that.’

‘You’ve talked- oh!’ Mori looks at Soushi’s wrist interested.

‘It grew?!’ Sora asks, scrambling to his knees to inspect Guardian Pact’s mark on Soushi’s wrist more closely.

‘Yeah, since there were few cases of children kidnappings recently that Backstage is still figuring out. I know Ren’s not a kid, but it would be easy to mistake him for a human one, since his control over his power is so good.’ Soushi raises his hand to let Sora see more properly. ‘I expanded the range the Pact connects us in. I actually wish this was allowed for human pairs, would save me a lot of time in our childhood on localizing Sora.’

‘So, you now know Ren’s exact localization?’ Sora asks, ignoring the jab.

‘Yeah.’ Soushi lowers his hand. ‘Not only that, though. I also know his energy level, and when he uses his power. He’s aware of that, by the way.’

‘I didn’t suspect anything else.’ Mori shakes his head and smiles softly. ‘Although I’m almost jealous of Ren, for having this kind of big brother as his Guard. You probably feel more like family by now.’

‘You don’t say.’ Soushi groans, also flopping onto Sora’s bed. ‘There are cookies in the kitchen, by the way, from Ren’s mother. They’re not really a food-eating family, but she experiments with food from time to time, so that they can implement right diet for their student’s proper development. Though, apparently, there’s only two human students at the moment, and one is a grown up man, already. That means though, that she experiments with food mainly on me and Sora.’

‘Sora?’ Mori blinks. ‘Did she...?’

‘Ah, they never met me, now that I think about it...’ muses Sora. ‘But, Sou kept bringing me souvenirs from Ren’s mom, so I kind of... also got involved in her experimentation.’

‘Apparently, Ren was pretty amazed by your dumbassery, and used to talk about you, back when we were kids.’ Soushi fills in, and Sora pouts.

‘There’s no way Ren-kyun would use this description!’

‘He didn’t.’ Soushi agrees.’Doesn’t mean it’s not what he meant.’

‘Soushi-kun, you’re mean!’

‘Now, now, that’s a charm on its’ own.’ pacifies Morihito, and Soushi snorts softly.

‘So? Want to share what happened to make you go into your Sora-deprived mode?’ hunter prompts, and Morihito blinks, as suddenly, both humans seem to stare at him with surprising intensity. He slowly shakes his head.

‘It’s nothing. No, really.’ he stresses, seeing unamused expressions of his boyfriends. ‘At least, while not nothing, nothing new that should wipe me out like that.’

‘Aren’t you putting too much expectations on yourself?’ asks Sora before Soushi can even open his mouth. ‘I mean, you’re only hum- sorry, vampire. So, technically supernatural, but not an alien. Or zombie. Please tell me you’re not turning into a zombie.’

‘Isn’t that my line?’ Mori says, cautiously reaching out to trace bandages on Sora’s left wrist. ‘It was you, who got that Puppetmaster spewing all the load of Despair on you.’

‘Dai-san took most of it for me. I’m fine!’ Sora stresses, using the bandaged hand to grasp at Mori’s. Noticing glimmer of worry in Soushi’s eyes, he also tugs hunter’s hand onto the pile. ‘See? All good! Consider it a shock therapy or something!’

‘Shock therapy?’ Morihito asks.

‘For what?’ Soushi asks next, before blinking.

‘I know you think I’m a permanent mess, but before that dispatch I was more of a mess than usual.’ Sora huffs. ‘That goddamn phrase I was about to finish just wouldn’t cooperate the way I wanted it to, and no tricks helped! But, after that dispatch-’

‘Doesn’t that mean you were just overworking yourself?’ Mori asks worriedly. ‘Sora, we love your music, but you really don’t have to push yourself that much. Shiki-san and Mamoru-san had years before meeting their Singers to grasp and jot loose scores, that they based their Songs on after meeting their Units. You, on the other hand-’

‘I had my Singers next to me from the very start, meaning I could freely Compose while taking their voices into consideration, I just was dumb enough not to do that.’ Sora interrupts him, trying to cross his arms and failing, when both his boyfriends squeezed his hand on reflex. ‘So, at least, I want to catch up in that. Since I won’t ever catch up to elemental manipulation, or experience, or technique, at least I want to catch up in music.’

‘That’s...’ Mori starts slowly, but stops as Soushi hums contemplatively.

‘I still think you don’t need a Black Despair to get your shock therapy, and restart your creative juices or whatever flowing.’ Soushi says, and Sora pouts. Soushi points at Mori. ‘Aren’t you supposed to have a living shock therapy for your Composer senses over there?’

‘Sou, we still haven’t confirmed-’ Mori starts, but Soushi shakes his head.

‘You’re the only one I will accept as Sora’s Muse.’ hunter states simply. ‘If I was one, it would be dangerous for Sora. If it was one of our juniors, well. Aside of the fact I don’t like idea of being jealous of them, it would be a mayhem with Nozomu, and Ren would probably panic at such a heavy responsibility, so. You’re the best choice, and I’m pretty sure Sora’s Composer brain agrees.’

‘That’s a... flattering analysis, I guess, but-’

‘And that means, you should spill, because Soara might be in a pinch with both you and Sora in a not-communicative state.’ Soushi finishes, and remaining men stare at him, before Mori chuckles.

‘It won’t, because it has you.’ he says, and there’s fondness in his voice. Then, he sighs. ‘I won’t tell you anything you don’t know, though. It’s about those kidnappings you’ve mentioned.’

‘Oh?’ Soushi raises an eyebrow, but before he’s able to inquire more, Sora raises his (free) hand.

‘Before that!’ he looks sternly at both his boyfriends. ‘You both were out and working hard since this morning. You need carbs.’

He jumps off the bed, and starts pulling at Mori’s arm.

‘With that, let’s go get those cookies. Everything is better with the cookies. And the juniors are not here, so we can still talk about all this stuff there. It’s not like it will come and bite us tomorrow, right?’

‘I really hope so.’ Mori mutters softly, and Sora frowns.

Soushi knows that expression, so he preemptively moves behind Mori, to catch him once Sora ends up headbutting him.

‘Ouch... you’re just as hardheaded as Soushi is.’ Sora complains, massaging his forehead.

Soushi snorts a short laughter, looking at a High vampire in his arms that, with a somewhat confused expression, was trying to figure out what just transpired. Soushi guesses there weren’t that many people going around headbutting heirs of the more prominent vampire families.

Well, Sora was special.

That special guy now grins, looking at them, before cupping Mori’s face in both his hands.

‘We’ll be okay, Mori.’ he says softly. ‘Whatever comes our way, we’re in it together. That’s what friends are there for, right?’

‘Last memo I got suggested we were more?’ slowly answers Mori, and Sora grins.

‘That, too! But, we’re also each other’s friends!’

‘Boyfriends, even.’ consciously notes Soushi, before high-fiving his childhood friend. ‘But, Sora’s right, Mori. If there’s something coming, we’ll weather it together. We survived him being dumb, we can survive anything. Right?’

'Oi.'

This time, Mori smiles, when he leans more onto Soushi, and says.

‘It’s definitely hard to believe otherwise, with the two of you in the room.’ he reaches out and squeezes at Soushi’s arm in silent thanks. ‘So, I guess I’ll just share with what I gathered so far, but. I guess we really could use those cookies.’

It’s only after they get to their feet, that vampire calls out once more.

‘Oh, and Sora?’

The human turns, and frankly gets his lips snatched. For just a second, but still.

‘Thanks.’ Mori smiles, from very, very close up, and Sora feels his blood deciding now is the good time to travel upwards.

‘M-Mori, no fair!’

Soushi just chuckles. Really, how can anything stand in the way of those two dorky, adorable, strong beings?

*

He probably shouldn’t have thought that.

Shelter affairs get put on the back burner for them for the time being, they’re Field Unit after all, and Marionettes get a priority treatment. Thankfully, the tactic to cut off three out of four main nests works, and the number of dispatches for things other than patrols drops drastically. Sora’s hand heals without any problems, and Dai is back to the business the day after they got hurt in the first place. With Growth returning to action, and Special Units reporting barely two weeks later, back from their successful long term missions meant to wipe out minor gatherings of Marionettes and purify the areas they took place in, Tsukino has one of the biggest Field forces at their disposal.

So, that will be fine, Ren reassures himself, for the hundredth time swallowing a bile of stress down, even as he looks at his unitmates in the common room. Sora and Nozomu bicker good-naturedly, with Mori looking after them from above the book he reads as a cover-up.

(He’s actually flipping the pages, Ren notes, but it’s pretty obvious most of High’s attention is focused on feeling fond of the two bickering manchildren next to him.)

Sou-nii is in the kitchen part of the room, also overlooking them, but his hands are moving systematically, chopping, mixing, grating, and Ren has half a mind to ask him if he needs help, but no.

That would be running away. And he cannot burden them like that. Besides, it will be alright, it’s just few simple words, even he can manage to say them without stuttering...

Only he really, really doesn’t want to.

‘Ren?’ he startles at the sound of his name. Soushi looks at him worriedly. ‘Is something wrong? You didn’t react to Nozomu calling to you just now.’

Ren opens his mouth to apologize and reassure that everything is alright, only his mouth refuse to work. His lungs also refuse to work. Why?! He was an air sensor, so why wes air refusing to get inside of him?!

‘Ren! Ren, calm down.’ Soushi throws cooking knife on the counter, but before he’s able to make it to the younger vampire, Nozomu passes by him. ‘Nozomu, don’t, Ren’s-’

‘Reeen.’ Nozomu calls out and everything stops, as Ren's brain focuses only on that voice, right there, still a bit cheerful, reassuring, but lacking any of the goofiness that’s usually in it. ‘C’mon, don’t be like that. Breathe. In, out? Out, in? Which one feels better?’

Nozomu’s hands on his cheeks feel the best, but he probably wasn’t supposed to think that. He still clutches at them, because it feels like they are the only thing anchoring him to the reality. He can sense remaining members of Soara a bit a distance away, making sure not to suffocate him, but ready to help. He probably should tell them those words now, while he has all of their attention, but he really, really doesn’t want to. His breath comes shorter again.

‘Hey, no, don’t go there, Ren, I’m here!’ thumbs are stroking his cheeks.

Here is where Ren really, really wanted to stay, but...

‘I can’t...’ he whispers, barely audible, but that doesn’t stop Nozomu from hearing it.

‘Of course you can! You’re Ren the awesome! Soara’s Munakata Ren!’ hands disappear from his cheeks, but only because they now land on his shoulders, and moments later, all of air that surrounds him now speaks of Nozomu, comforting, reassuring, lovely Nozomu, and his heart rate slows down, only to pick up for a different reasons.

Then, even that stills, as Ren realizes, it might be the last time. Last time he gets to be comforted like that, last time to have the exquisite comfort of being surrounded by both vampires and people caring for him, trusting him, _loving_ him...

‘Ren.’ this isn’t Nozomu’s voice. Ren blinks, before looking into kind brown eyes of his Guard and big brother figure.

‘S-Sou-nii...’

‘It’s okay. We’re here.’ Soushi brushes his hand against Ren’s forehead, and he catches sight of their Guardian Pact’s mark. ‘Take your time. We can figure it out.’

‘I...’ he really, really wishes he could say something other than what he needs to say next. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘There’s nothing to be...’ Soushi starts, but Ren shakes his head, at the same time gripping at Nozomu’s arms, still hugging him tightly.

He hopes they won’t stop... he closes his eyes, focusing on the sensation of being wrapped in a secure cocoon of his unitmates concerned, caring air.

How they will change once he says it?

‘I... I might need... to l-leave Soara.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I don't cliffhanger much, but...this thing was nearing 12k, and I didn't want to start next chapter with Ren's panic attack...  
> I'll try to update next week, to make sure we're not left hanging for too long, though! Since next chapter of BYA is me indulging in fluff, I shouldn't have much problem in writing it out, and so that means I can focus on thickening the plot for Dreamers... although there's not much to thicken, if you've read previous twoish chapters, you probably know what was the reason of Ren saying what he's said.  
> Also, I'm terribly sorry to Yuno fans for misspelling her name previously on her cameos OTL. I'm going to eventually correct that!  
> The faerie stereotype that is mentioned is actually a true belief about fairies, and, in some countries, also elves. They are supposed to steal human babies, and switch human newborns for the babies of their own, that then would cause misfortune to that family until kicked out. Since Rikka has been called a Leannah si, a demon/vampire muse, I guessed dropping another folklore myth wasn't too out of context, but... well.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and once again, happy (late) 4th anniversary to Quell!


	7. Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, this chapter title refers to the Soara's song I've been recently quite obsessed with? Idk, the intro just makes me hooked.  
> I ended up shuffling the parts of this chapter around quite a bit, so I had to spell-check it to avoid consistency errors, but! It's up, finally! We're moving on from the cliff-hanging straight into cliff-diving! Just kidding, lol, but there's once again a lot of politicking involved, and a bit of boys being supportive of each other in general (it's "Friend" after all! lol). Also, the heck is with this chapter's length? I thought we agreed to stay near 6k for stability of updates, brain?? Don't turn 6 upwards down???  
> Enjoy!

‘What?!’ Sora is the one to summarize all their feelings, but for now Soushi has more pressing matters to attend to. His Guard’s mark was pulsing, Ren’s condition still not stable despite the more or less even way in which he breathed, and for a sensor, losing control was much more dangerous than for a normal person.

‘Ren. I don’t know what caused that confession, but for now, you need to calm down.’ he says, pressing his hand to the vampire’s forehead. He notices the way in which Nozomu’s arms, slackened with Ren’s confession, now grip twice as strong at the smaller vampire. ‘We can talk everything out from the start once you do.’

‘You, calm down, too.’ he adds, turning to Sora. ‘If you think I can’t hear your breathing hitching, you’re mistaken. Sora. C’mon.’

‘Easy for you to say.’ Sora says sharply, staring at the younger vampires. ‘You were not just told that part of your music needs to-’

‘Sora.’ Mori puts a hand on Sora’s shoulder. ‘We start this thing from the wrong side.’

He looks between their Composer and their sensor, before making up his mind.

‘I suspect I know what this is about, but before we get to the explanations, we all should calm down.’

‘You know?’ Soushi asks, feeling like the pulsing in the Mark slows down with the revelation. Ren was probably as surprised as Soushi felt.

Mori nods, hands resting on Sora’s shoulders.

‘Let’s all sit down, and talk it out, alright?’ he seems to be speaking more to Sora than to Ren at this point, Soushi notices absent-minded, helping Nozomu get Ren onto sofa in the middle of living room. Sora is seated opposite him, in an armchair, with Mori’s arm around his shoulders, and Soushi is suddenly incredibly grateful to the other boyfriend - he had two hands, true, but even he wouldn’t probably be able to hold both Sora and Ren in a way they needed right now...

‘Okay.’ he says, instead of voicing his doubts. ‘Let’s get this from the start. Ren, what brought this decision?’

Ren is breathing quicker, but makes a great job of keeping it all under control, considering he's probably be dazed, and his power probably tries to slip away from him. Nozomu being surprisingly quiet and focused solely on supporting him must’ve helped a lot more than Soushi expected.

Now, too, it’s Nozomu who nudges Ren’s shoulder with his chin, his arms still occupied with cuddling the other from the side. Ren starts, before focusing his eyes on Soushi. Hunter repeats his question.

‘That’s...’ Ren’s voice hitches, and he swallows. ‘Because I don’t want you to get involved...’

‘What?’ Sora stares at him, and Ren flinches, but Mori nods from besides Sora.

‘Mori?’ Soushi prompts, and vampire sighs.

‘Ren, I just want to confirm - it has to do with identity of the sixteenth victim of those kidnappings happening around Tokyo, right?’

Ren nods, and Mori sighs.

‘I’m not sure, Ren, but I think you should tell at least Soushi the full extent of the story, before you worked yourself up so much. He’s your Guard, remember?’ he scolds gently. ‘Though, I’m also a bit at fault, since I didn’t connect dots sooner.’

‘Mori, stop beating around the bush, please.’ Sora speaks up, still visibly aggravated. ‘If there’s a reason why my Singer almost got into a panic attack while telling me he needs to leave me, _I want to know it_.’

Ren flinches again.

‘Sora-senpai, I’m-’ he starts, but shortest of his seniors slams his hands onto the coffee table in between them, making all of them jump up.

‘I will decide if I need an apology from you after I hear the full story.’ he proclaims, ignoring the stinky eye Soushi gave him. ‘Though, judging by the premise, I rather will have to punch somebody else for you.’

That startles a chuckle from all of them, and Sora grins, his aggravated air dissipating.

‘I needed a moment, but I’m sure now you wouldn’t be in that state if you really wanted to leave.’ he finishes, retracing his arms, and crossing them over his chest. ‘So, let me hear the whole story, so that I know who to punch.’

‘Me, too!’ Nozomu proclaims loudly, but still incredibly softly for his standards. Mori sighs.

‘We all would like to know who to punch, Sora, the problem is, nobody really knows.’ he turns to his other boyfriend. ‘Sou, does the name Kagiyama Yuma, aged thirteen, tells you something?’

Soushi frowns.

‘Sounds like a name of one of the kids from Ren’s dojo... wait a moment.’ he straightens up. ‘Don’t tell me...’

‘He’s the sixteenth victim of kidnapping.’ Mori nods slowly. ‘He didn’t return home from the practice at Ren’s dojo.’

‘That’s...’ Soushi turns to Ren. ‘He was one of your students preparing for the competition, right?’

Ren nods, knees raising to his chin. He could definitely pass for an upset thirteen year old, if you didn’t know he was a vampire.

‘The night he didn’t return, we were practicing the thrusts in one on one practices.’ he mumbles into his knees. Nozomu changes hold on his boyfriend, to be able to properly embrace the ball he turned into. ‘The day after, I’ve returned to the dorm since we had patrol, but dad mentioned Yuma didn’t show up for common practice that day- we thought he was just sore, and I told him to condition himself properly before the competition...’

His voice trembles, but he fights through it.

‘Then, his parents contacted mine, saying he never returned home. We wanted to be sure, so while mother went on to alert district border patrol of hunters, dad went to look for any signs of Yuma around the neighborhood.’

He swallows.

‘They found his shinai, drawn and broken, two streets away from the dojo.’ he buries his face into his knees. ‘I should’ve gone with him that day, Sou-nii warned me of those kidnappings... I’m so sorry.’

‘Ren.’ Soushi pats the silver of younger vampire’s head. ‘It was not your fault. Hey, Ren.’

‘It doesn’t show from the story,’ starts Mori slowly, letting everyone focus on him, ‘but the hunters were quite obviously suspicious of the vampires that had last contact with the victim. I presume Ren’s intent of leaving Soara was to cut us out from possible suspects’ list, since he and his family most likely already are on it.’

He softens his voice as he leans towards their younger members.

‘Am I right? Ren.’

Hair under Soushi’s hand move down and then up in a small nod.

‘We’re under investigation. I’m being called for voluntary house arrest within twenty four hours, counting since this morning.’ his voice is still muffled by his knees.

‘I see...’ Sora mutters slowly. ‘But, why suspect you? I mean, your family had human students back when we were children as well? It’s not that strange?’

‘And Yuma is one of the students from that period, too, since he started kendo at three.’ Soushi confirms with a nod. ‘He and Shinomiya-san are the only human pupils of the dojo, last I checked, and both of them refused to change teachers, after Ren moved into vampire district.’

‘Everybody knew them...’ Ren says wetly from his ball of misery. ‘Everyone is shocked.’

‘So, it’s not Kagiyama family that is suspicious of you.’ Nozomu confirms, and Ren shakes his head. ‘But then what-’

‘Nozomu.’ Mori says softly. ‘My family observes the cases from vampire’s side since ninth child, but the investigation on hunters’ side has started with the first victim, and so far, they have had no leads. The public starts to turn against them more with each new unsolved case.’

He pauses.

‘It doesn’t help that all of the children are human children. Hunters were originally a profession meant to deal with vampires.’ he adds, side-eyeing Soushi. ‘It then obviously evolved into a more diplomatic position, like with the Guards and Protectors of the Pacts, but it remains true that hunters were the reason humanity believes it’s safe to coexist with vampires. Since the cases obviously point at the vampires, but hunters have no idea what vampires...’

‘They choose the first somewhat related family as scapegoats.’ Soushi says darkly, hand still petting Ren. ‘And it doesn’t help Munakatas are just your normal vampire family, since they are a small price, even for vampiric Highs.’

‘Ren isn’t hush money!’ Nozomu protests fiercely, and against themselves, Mori and Soushi smile. ‘And I’m not letting anybody say otherwise!’

‘I agree.’ slowly says Sora. ‘My Singers aren’t small things... but, not many know they are mine.’

‘Sora.’ Mori says, but their Composer shakes his head.

‘For now, I confirmed that Ren doesn’t hate Soara at all~’ he says, and that prompts silver head to shot up from the misery ball, as Ren looks at him in shock.

‘I could never-!’

‘Good, keep that up!’ Sora grins, before reaching out and patting the vampire. Ren is too stunned to react. ‘I do have a new Song with your voice underway, after all!’

‘You do?’ Ren asks in a small voice, before turning to his Guard. ‘But, won’t that...’

‘Well, you getting suspected for kidnappings is definitely trouble, I agree.’ Sora nods. ‘Especially since I know you as a specialist in preventing those.’

He looks at Mori and then Soushi. Hunter notices, deep down his childhood friend’s eyes, below the mask of reassuring cheer, that he’s actually concerned. Very concerned.

‘I know you made me a leader of Soara, but this time, I’ll leave dealing with it to Sou.’ he says, before looking back to Mori. ‘Mori, can you back him up from the other side? Your family is responsible for investigation on vampire’s side, right?’

‘Well, not only us, the Groups also have their own investigation, but...’ he looks at Ren. ‘I don’t think it will be hard to find a plausible reason to involve myself in that case.’

‘I’ll say more, I can give you a plausible reason.’ dryly says Soushi. ‘You’re Observator of my and Ren’s Guardian’s Pact. Since I’m planning to get into investigation using my Guard’s privilege, you should be able to, as well.’

‘I see, that’s a good reason...’ Mori nods, and Ren looks in disbelief from one senior to the other. Mori notices it, and smiles. ‘You didn’t think we’d leave you alone with it, right?’

Ren’s opens his mouth, eyes moist, but all that comes out is a squeak as Nozomu barrels into him from the side - considering they were sitting shoulder to shoulder, that was quite an achievement on its’ own.

‘There’s no chance for that~’ he sing-songs. ‘Ren is mine, after all!’

‘N-Nozomu...!’ Ren seems to be horrified at his boyfriend’s open possessiveness, but Soushi can spy his hands, curled into Nozomu’s shirt in a secure grip.

They still chuckle at the exchange closest to normal they could afford in a current situation, before hunter sighs.

‘Ren, are you packed? I doubt you’d tell us about your leaving without preparing yourself but- alright.’ he says, seeing small nod. ‘Tell me when we need to leave.’

‘We?’ Ren blinks, but Nozomu speaks over him.

‘Senpai, senpai, I’m going with you!’ he says, then adds much softer. ‘I’m not leaving Ren alone in that.’

‘Hm.’ Soushi ponders, ignoring Ren’s bewildered expression. ‘We’ll have to ask Ren’s parents if they can house another vampire, but I think they shouldn’t have much trouble with you... I can deal with hunters backlash to it, but Mori, will it complicate things for you?’

‘Nozomu is a second child, so, as long as his brother won’t have anything against it, I think it should be alright.’ Mori answers, before blinking, as Sora jumps to his feet. ‘Sora?’

‘Sorry, I forgot about one meeting. Composer’s tea.’ he grins at them reassuringly. ‘It’s fine, it’s fine~ I’ll stuff myself with cookies there.’

‘Don’t stuff yourself with sweets, I have dinner almost ready.’ at the same time says Soushi. Sora points a finger at him, even as he starts towards the door.

‘Rather than food, make sure your child has his backpack packed, mom~ ah, but, don’t leave before I come back!’

‘Then come back before sunset!’ Soushi calls back at him. ‘I don’t think hunters will give us full twenty four hours, so I want to surprise them!’

‘Got it!’ is their answer, before the door closes with a bang.

Then, Mori blinks.

‘Didn’t Composers meet just yesterday, though?’

*

Sora marches straight into Tsukino General’s office, but he’s the last one to get into the room.

Remaining leaders of Field forces are already waiting for him, and obviously, Kouki instantly notices something is wrong.

‘Sora? Are you okay-’

‘No, I’m not. Or rather, Soara is not.’ he announces to the room, and all of them switch into full attention. ‘I need help.’

*

Kazuki Irihito looks unamused at his subordinates.

‘So. To sum it up; we finally have proper suspects, and you, instead of isolating them, let a bunch of friends come for a visit. Then, one of them decides to stay the night, and you just roll with it?’

His people shift in place unsure, looking at each other, waiting for one of them to take the bullet for the rest. Finally, they manage to nudge the youngest one out.

‘They had two Highs, sir!’ he says, staring straight ahead of himself. ‘One heir!’

‘So?’ their captain growls, and the rookie visibly sweatdrops. ‘Does them being High make them above the rules?’

‘No, sir! But-’

‘No buts!’ he snaps, and hunter stiffens. Although all of them were hundred percent sure that, had their captain been present, the outcome would be exactly the same, nobody willing to aggravate vampire aristocracy, none of them risked uttering this out. ‘If they’re not above the letter of law, then keep sticking to it, and keep pressing them to stick to it-!’

‘Shouldn’t that apply to our side as well, though?’ comes the new voice from behind the captain, and cadet breathes a sight of relief when this angry stare moves away from him and onto tall brunet, curiously looking around the tiny living room they took over as their headquarters. The furniture was moved under the walls to make more space, but all the pictures the vampire family gathered remained untouched, hanging above the couch and chests of drawers, displaying a happy family of three, sometimes with the dojo hall as the background, sometimes among the humans.

If he was honest with himself, Irihito felt uncomfortable with order to supervise clearly one of the best assimilated vampire families he’s encountered, but the pressure from above made it hard to protest. His frustration at his inability Irihito poured onto his subordinates, feeling just as guilty for that, and hoping they will forgive him once he treats them to a dinner after they close the case. Because he was sure they will close it, the upper ranks were slowly getting desperate to catch someone. Looking for proper culprit could come after public's opinion of them raises... at the price of three possibly innocent vampires’ lives, because the people will demand blood, for over fifteen children? Definitely.

And of course, in the middle of his inner turmoil caused by that, some kind of free spirit gets into their headquarters, acting as if he knows it all. Irihito decides, since the disturbance came to him, he might as well use the opportunity to vent onto someone other than his poor subordinates.

‘This is private property.’ he says to the newcomer, and makes a step towards him. ‘So unless you have a good reason to be here...’

In answer, newcomer raises his right hand, covered in chocolate brown markings, taking up half of his forearm, starting at the wrist.

‘I have, a very good one, in fact.’ he states, and Irihito freezes. ‘Our family had at least one Guard in each generation born during or after the Great Tragedy; however, I might be the first one to be informed of charges against my protegee only through said protegee’s mouth, and not, as rules dictate, by the human side posing said charges.’ he says dryly.

Irihito swallows.

‘You are...’

‘Kagurazaka Soushi.’ the man -teen, really- looks at each and every one of them. ‘Field Support Unit Soara’s member, and Munakata Ren’s, from the same unit, Pact Guard. I came to clarify few points.’

‘Clarify?’ Irihito gathers himself. That means he can get rid of the disturbingly calm hunter relatively easy. ‘I understand. I apologize for my men skipping on the duty of informing you about the case, is that-’

‘I said I came to clarify things, not demand apologies.’ there’s glimmer of amusement in Kagurazaka’s eyes, as he leans against a doorframe. ‘One, Munakata family didn’t have anything to do with the kidnappings. Work with that in mind.’

‘What?’ Irihito feels his head swirl. ‘You have any proof of that?’

‘I have more than your upper ranks have to support thesis of them being involved.’ dryly returns Soushi. Damn, the kid wasn’t revealing his cards... ‘Two. The kid vampire you were chewing your subordinate about just now; he’s a fellow Unit member of mine. I made sure he won’t cause trouble, but it will be wise to leave him by Ren’s side while I’m away. He’s a High, and while we have him on control devices at all times, and his self-control is much better now, he’s still too dangerous for you Backstage to handle alone. As I said, he’s here as Ren’s support, and doesn’t really care about anything else.’

Irihito blinks. They had a _High_ in the same house as them? Staying as a support to a lesser vampire and nothing else? His disbelief must’ve shown on his face, because Kagurazaka sighed.

‘He’s too dumb to have some secret agenda to his stay. Trust me, we went to school together.’ he smiles wryly. 'Now, I can’t say it about the other High, that will no doubt come and supervise your actions as one of vampire representatives. You’ll recognize him by the fact he will be the youngest-looking from their party. He’s also working with the belief Munakatas are innocent, so as long as you keep that belief in mind as well, he also shouldn’t be problem to you.’

‘We’re not the ones to decide on who’s innocent and who’s not.’ Irihito protests, but Kagurazaka looks straight into his eyes.

‘No, but you work with the suspects. And treating them as if they were innocent, just mistakenly scapegoated by your upper ranks will definitely go a long way. Trust me.’ he assures, and Irihito starts. How was this guy... ‘Now, sorry for disturbing you, but I need to calm down Ren and his parents, then try to move our forces into the right direction, before we go into a goddamn cold war with half of our society over false accusations.’

He disappears, and Irihito releases a breath he wasn’t even aware he was holding.

Was all Field hunters this intimidating?

More importantly, did Kagurazaka just say they have a Field vampire in their custody?

*

Sora is really trying to focus, but the sounds just won’t listen to him, won’t come down onto the sheet, no matter what he does, how he tries to wrestle them, coax them, and even bribe them with better quality paper (present from Ren). They just. Wouldn’t. Come. Home.

_Like Ren._

Sora groans in annoyance.

_No, brain, don't think like that, bad brain, it wasn't Ren's fault-_

There’s a soft knock on his door and Sora instantly knows who it is. He jumps to get to the door.

‘Mori! How did the meeting go?’ he asks, even though the sound around his Muse quite easily tells him not anywhere as well as he hoped it would.

Mori still smiles softly at him.

‘There’s a lot to consider with the case, so. The progress is slow.’ he says, instead of complaining like any normal person, because he’s just an angel like that. ‘For now, we at least have everyone’s interest.’

‘Good job, Mori.’ Sora says softly, because really, that’s all he can say, no matter how hard he despises his uselessness.

‘Can I...’ Mori hesitates, noticing Sora’s notes above his shoulder. ‘Won’t I disturb you if I stay for a moment? I don’t really feel like staying in my room. Ah, I’ll go get tea fir-’

‘Don’t bother about that!’ Sora interrupts, firmly gripping at Mori’s wrist and pulling him into his room. ‘I actually probably need you.’

Mori blinks.

‘Need me?’ he looks at the scattered scores and 'ah’s. ‘Writer’s block?’

‘...something like that.’ Sora reluctantly admits. ‘So, be there for me!’

Mori blinks and Sora feels his face heat up.

How come, even after all this time, those things still spill from his mouth, and still sound as embarrassing as ever.

Then, Mori smiles, an honest, somewhat relieved smile, and it stops being embarrassing.

‘If I won’t get in the way...’

‘There’s no way you will, Morihito-kun?’ Sora says with a lilt in his voice. They were still working out the whole Muse thing, but with Soushi quite unceremoniously dropping it on them, and then deciding that he’ll let Mori have it, since he gets the status of ‘promoted childhood friend’ (whatever that meant), they were getting better.

They sit down in front of the keyboard Sora got in his room. With one of his Singers, and most-likely-a-Muse, sounds are much more obedient, but there’s still one voice that disobeys.

Or rather, Sora notes once he realizes which voice it is, worries for dragging them down with itself. Sora really wishes to be able to coax and reassure it properly. Ren was strong, and kind, and overall a perfect kouhai to have, so for something to happen to him...

He startles as something hits his shoulder, just for a second. He turns to see Mori straightening up incredibly quickly, before rubbing his eyes.

‘Sorry, did I distract you?’ he asks, but Sora doesn’t answer, instead staring into (one of) his boyfriend’s face. They were super pale, but were those... shadows of the eyebags?

‘S-Sora?’ Mori stutters, still looking back at him, as Sora puffs out his cheeks, and then pokes his face.

‘You were overworking yourself.’

‘I...’ Morihito blinks, but is saved from answering by the sound of the door opening, and simultaneously, a third voice calling out.

‘Sora, I’m coming in- ah, Mori,you were here, too. Welcome back, good job.’ Soushi walks into the room and closes the door with his elbow, as both his hands are occupied with mugs with tea. ‘I didn’t know you were back, so I made only two cups, but you can share with me.’

‘No, it’s alright-’ Mori starts, but Sora jumps up.

‘That’s a good idea! You can share with me, too!’

‘Then I’ll have too much tea to drink.’ Mori chuckles softly. ‘And you not enough of it.’

‘If you take one third of each cup, we all will have equal amount, though?’

‘How come math was one of your worst subjects?’ Soushi complains, still offering Sora a mug. Sora just huffs.

‘It’s not math...’ he pauses, before looking at a scoresheet. ‘At least not completely? You guys, I mean.’

‘I’m pretty sure our teachers would disagree with you on that.’ Soushi returns dryly, sitting down on Sora’s other side.

Sora uses that moment to look at his other boyfriend more attentively.

Yep. The signs of tiredness were there, too, and Sora feels irrational anger rise in him.

Why was the world so mean to his teammates? And why his boyfriends had to pay the price?!

‘Sou, how did it go on your end?’ Mori asks, peeking above Sora at the hunter. Soushi hums.

‘For now, slowly. But, at this point we’re fighting for Ren’s family, rather than just Ren himself, since the Guardian Pact pretty much excludes him from the scope of suspects. Not that they know about expansions I made to it, I'm saving it as an ace up our sleeve. Plus, ironically, the family of the kidnapped boy insists there’s no way dojo was involved in his disappearance, it’s just that hunters want to be thorough in their search.’

He snorts.

‘If you ask me, they hyperfixated on the idea of dojo being a front for an underground smuggling ring, and vampires sneering while waiting for them to admit to being wrong don’t help. Munakatas just suffer between all of that.’ he looks at Mori. ‘Sorry, I know you try to do something about it on your end.’

Mori shakes his head.

‘Experiment isn’t successful until you can present a result, even in negative.’ he sighs. ‘I wish I could do something to hurry it up but... it’s already going pretty smooth, thanks to the Takamuras piping in from time to time. I don’t want to involve Groups just yet, they already have enough trouble with number of their members in danger of being abducted... although I’ve heard Kisaragi-Izumi union is working on their own investigation, separately from either High council. Something worried Izumi-san.’

‘And I can even tell you what.’ dryly says Soushi. ‘Two of his Singers are underage, like, very underage. Apparently so much decision about their inclusion into Shield Unit was challenged by part of Tsukino Backstage Battle forces.’

‘Wait, really?’ Sora speaks up. ‘But the last time we’ve met, his Songs looked so developed!’

‘Don’t know about their Songs, but I doubt Izumi-san would let unprepared children enter the Field?’ Mori frowns. ‘Especially if they’re his Singers? Didn’t Composers had this natural dislike for endangering their Singers?’

‘We definitely do.’ Sora confirms. ‘Mamo-chan- you remember last month’s Growth dispatch? The one after which they had to extend their Recovery?’

‘Ah. The Feather Village incident.’ Mori says softly. ‘Weren’t member of Yaegashi-kun’s-’

‘Yeah. That’s why Kouki asked for extended leave for them, but Mamo-chan ended up being the one to spend most of the time with Ken-kun.’ Sora explains. ‘Kouki is an heir, so he’s busy running around helping to administer help and accommodation of the people from the destroyed shelter, since it will take some time to clean the mess completely. Ryota-kun cannot really openly help, since it’s not his field of expertise, and apparently, even his presence on the council regarding the region was frowned upon, since he’s with earth and not air- what?’

‘Ah, no.’ Mori blinks. ‘I’m just... surprised you know this much about all that? Isn’t that inner Soul Spirit Users’ affairs?’

Sora huffs.

‘They are, but they touch Mamo-chan’s Singers real hard, and since, contrary to Shiki-san and Shu-san, we can do nothing to help-’

‘But you help?’ Mori asks, confused. ‘You’re there?’

Sora stares. The bags under eyes get slightly more prominent in artificial lightning, he realizes.

‘Not enough, it seems.’ he decides, before turning and collecting the sheets from their stand. ‘But, not anymore.’

He puts the sheets away, much to the bafflement of both other men in the room.

‘Sora?’

‘Drink your tea- I mean, my tea, Mori.’ Sora says, critically examining his bed. ‘Then, both of you, come here.’

Mori and Soushi exchange confused glances, but put the cups away and move towards their Composer.

Who unceremoniously pushes hunter onto bed.

‘Wha-?!’

‘Sou, move over, or Mori won’t fit.’ Sora instructs sternly, and through sheer astonishment, Soushi obeys, allowing Sora to push Mori in next to him, after confiscating his glasses, and setting them on a night table next to the bed.

Hunter and vampire look at each other, then, as if pulled by a magnet, look up at their boyfriend. Sora looks at them, judging his work.

‘I guess it will be a bit cramped...’ he mutters. ‘But, I have no other way to make sure you two will rest properly.’

‘Ah.’ is the very coherent answer from the bed. Sora grins, sitting at the edge.

‘C’mon guys, nap time! Get comfortable, and go catch those zz. I’ll even sing you a lullaby!’ he says, waggling his eyebrow, no doubt meant to be a joke, but it has the opposite effect, as Soushi and Mori look at each other, before nodding to something they decided upon.

‘No need.’ they chorus.

Seconds later Sora feels himself flying, and in the next moment, he sees his boyfriends’ faces above and on his either side. He realizes what just transpired.

‘C’mon, guys!’ he whines. ‘It will be too cramped for you to rest-’

‘You’re too tiny to make it cramped.’ Soushi states as if this was obvious, his hand secure on Sora’s waist.

‘You want us to sleep well, right?’ Mori asks from his other side with a small smile, relaxing his grip on Sora’s arm to move his hand to Sora’s chest. Culprit behind his flight to the middle of the bed - found. ‘So this is the best option.’

‘How is that-’ Sora starts.

‘Sora, shh.’ Soushi says, his face burying in Sora’s shoulder. ‘Kids aren’t here, but we could use a nap. All three of us.’

Sora realizes, Soushi is right. With one of his connected Songs torn from him, his sleep grew restless...

‘We’ll be here when we wake up.’ Mori says, and his voice is low and warm. ‘We can start working again then. For now, though...’

‘I get it, mou...’ but, his arms act on their own, reaching out and cradling two heads closer to his chest. ‘Don’t complain to me about cramps after we wake up, though... oh.’

Two even breaths answer him, and Sora smiles, victorious, before closing his eyes.

Mission: Get Boyfriends to Rest - succeeded.

*

‘Dai, Tsubasa! Welcome back.’ Rikka smiles at them the second they enter their dorm, and neither of called men even bother to hide a smile this greeting forces on their lips.

‘We’re baaack~ ah, but not for long, I’ve got a meeting I’m already late for, I’ll just change clothes since we’re awful.’ Tsubasa looks at himself with slight disgust. ‘Seriously, even Marionettes should learn Despair don’t stick when we’re in the middle of a Duet.’

‘It was this hard?’ Rikka asks, concerned, still completely ignoring the thin sheet of ash, and pecking one, then the other man. Seconds later, he’s in a double embrace, chuckling, as hunters sandwich him between themselves.

‘Not really hard, just... we didn’t want to risk too much.’ Dai says, his arms easily embracing both of his boyfriends. ‘Without Support, it was better if we took the main force out like that, because otherwise, anybody infected would have to wait for treatment on this side of the Tunnel.’

‘I see.’ Rikka sighs, letting himself absentmindedly comb through Tsubasa’s hair. ‘You worked hard, good job.’

‘Not finished yet, I still gotta get the answer from Hokkaido about kiddos, and then meet with rest of our forces' representatives regarding those kidnappings, and Soara situation, and- is that your battle outfit?’ Tsubasa says on one breath, slightly backing away from the vampire, and Rikka chuckles.

‘Yes, it is, although I’m not in for anything as extreme as you are. Something was bothering my lilies, so I’m going to check the barrier.’ he explains. ‘We don’t need another breakout of the Marionettes with what’s happening inside the shelters already, so...’

‘Can I go with you?’ Dai asks, shocking the remaining two into staring at him. ‘What?’

‘...I was about to request you do, but still.’ Tsubasa whines. ‘Date with Rikka, Dai-chan, no fair!’

‘If you were to propose it yourself, what’s the point of complaining about it? Also, don’t call me that.’

Rikka chuckles, leaning his head on Dai’s shoulder, and reaching his hand out to pat Tsubasa.

‘I’m really popular, am I not.’ he sing-songs. ‘I’d love company, Dai. It’s okay, Tsubasa, I’ll make your favorite for dinner, as a consolation.’

‘Can I get caramel custard for dessert?’ Tsubasa asks, eyes shining, and Rikka chuckles again, this time leaning in to peck his lips.

‘Good thing I expected that request. They’re already cooling down.’ he says with a wink, and Tsubasa glomps him with a loud cheer. Dai grunts as they fall onto him as a result, but Rikka can feel satisfaction emanating from the taller man still. Right, Dai also enjoyed custards last time he made them... actually, even more than Tsubasa, who preferred lemon tarts. Oh, dear, his boyfriends definitely take care of each other...

‘Weren’t you running late?’ he asks Tsubasa with a chuckle, and the younger man separates from them with a soft curse, before rushing to his room. Rikka chuckles, before turning to Dai. ‘You can go refresh yourself too, I’ll wait for you.’

‘Okay.’ Dai nods, before hesitating. ‘And Shiki-’

‘Oh. He’s with younger Composers.’ Rikka says after a second of consultations. ‘It seems he and Mamoru were tasked with taking Sora’s mind off of the recent problems...’

Dai nods, but Rikka feels certain level of reluctance as the taller man slowly separates from him as well.

‘I... honestly can’t even imagine, how it feels, being separated against your will.’ hunter admits softly, and it says a lot.

Solids was the only Unit capable of working in separate teams, courtesy of Shiki overproducing, and ending up with their Duets written even before their formation. As such, they knew the feeling of separation, but it was always a conscious - if reluctant- choice. To have it decided for them... more, to be a Composer having your Singer taken away from you... Rikka thought Shu had it hard, but Sora’s situation might have been just as bad.

‘I hope we won’t have to experience it.’ Rikka says softly to a disappearing back of the Hunter.

‘We won’t.’ Tsubasa says, exiting his room, clothes already changed, wet towel running through bright hair, getting most of the grime out of it. ‘And also, while we’re at it; we’re working to make sure Soara isn’t in that state for too long from now on.’

He practically jogs past both Dai and Rikka, but not without patting hunter’s shoulder - heavily - and moving to return the peck to Rikka’s cheek.

‘I’m off!’ he calls to both of them before banging the door closed. Rikka can hear sounds of running footsteps, and can’t help it - he chuckles.

‘There he goes.’ dryly says Dai, massaging patted shoulder.

‘Like a storm that he is.’ adds Rikka with a shake of his head, picking up abandoned towel.

It was good to have Tsubasa on their side.

*

Tsubasa jogs over to the door in honey gold color and opens them without knocking.

‘Sorry, I’m late, dispatch ran longer than expected.’ he says on an exhale, before bending over for a second, catching his breath. Then, he comes closer to a round table littered with papers and map of the Tokyo shelter, displayed through a horizontal glyph screen.

‘It’s fine, we just finished comparing information.’ Kouki returns, making space for him and pressing a cup of water into his hand. Tsubasa gulps it down gratefully. ‘Basically, nothing you didn’t know, considering your family expressed active interest in the case last week.’

Tsubasa chuckles, sheepish.

‘Sorry for barging into your backyard.’ but Kouki shakes his head with a slight smile.

‘The more hands we have, the more in depth we can work on the case.’ he sighs. ‘Though, Backstage created quite a mess with their early assumption already, and don’t seem too willing to admit a mistake.’

‘Huh?’ Tsubasa blinks.

‘We were about to touch this point.’ speaks up another voice, and Shu appears on Tsubasa’s right. ‘Apparently, even Etou’s intervention wasn’t enough to halt the procedure against Munakatas.’

‘Although it helped with Sou’s initiative, because Ren and his family are treated by their direct guards more as fellow victims than suspects.’ Morihito says from the other side of Kouki. ‘I allowed myself to check that personally. Not that it makes Soara any better off...’

‘Right, right.’ Tsubasa nods along. ‘And the younger Nanase? Already meeting his in-laws?’

That coaxes a faint smile from Morihito.

‘He doesn’t leave Ren’s side.’ he corrects his glasses. ‘If I’m honest, I would like not to, as well. He really scared us with this confession.’

‘Well, it was sudden, from what Sora-kun told us.’ Shu hums. ‘Plus, I feel Munakata-kun has a strong sense of responsibility.’

‘That, he does...’

‘So, he probably put unnecessary pressure onto himself with that case, as a punishment for dishonoring Soara, or something along those lines.’ Shu muses, then sighs. ‘Even if he really had nothing to do with the case.’

‘Just to play devil’s advocate, do we know that for sure?’ Tsubasa asks, raising his hand, and Mori looks at him, but then nods his head.

‘The kidnapped child that directed hunters to Munakatas was his student. While the power difference is still big, Ren was preparing him for a national competition - a child with this level of skill would manage to cause some kind of scuffle against a lone vampire, especially one he knew fighting style of, and nothing of sorts were reported.’ Mori slowly explains. ‘Aside of that, there’s Guard Pact- Sou expanded the level of his supervision over Ren literally few days before the kidnapping, to be able to track him, if he was mistaken for a child and abducted himself.’

Tsubasa whistles.

‘Man, talk about overdoing being exactly enough... if we add Soushi’s reports of Ren’s power fluctuation to the fact he’s a sensor, he’s as good as clear. Which would leave only his parents.’ he turns to Kouki. ‘You know what’s the current theory among hunters?’

‘The face to the underground trafficking circle.’ Kouki returns with a sigh. ‘Vague enough to be true.’

‘Really? They were conducting investigations since the first victim, then since sixth they were treating it as a one case, and all they manage to figure out in that time is „underground trafficking”? How long has the cases been showing for up now? Two months? Three?’ Tsubasa says, and there’s a sense of utter exasperation in his voice. ‘If that was Field, half of Japan would be already swallowed in Black Despair thanks to their work ethics.’

‘We can be at least grateful it is not Field... or not.’ Shu says, his eyes gaining calculating look. ‘If this was Field issue, we could involve Tsukino... and that would make easier to clear Ren-kun, even with his relation to sixteenth victim-’

‘Wait, sixteenth?’ Tsubasa speaks up incredulously. ‘Two weeks ago they were at ninth!’

‘They pick up their pace.’ agrees Kouki. ‘It looks like some kind of establishing period was over and they fell into more effective routine.’

‘Routine...’ Mori mutters softly, before picking a piece of paper. ‘Kouki-kun, can you mark locations I’m going to read out now?’

‘Eh? Okay?’ Kouki obediently raises a stylus over the map.

Six locations in, Tsubasa’s eyes flash with realization, ten locations in, there’s almost physical sense of realization in the room as a whole.

Once Kouki marks the sixteenth circle, just next to the Munakata dojo, they have four regions dotted with red marks.

‘You’re kidding me.’ Tsubasa says with disbelief. ‘We’ve really missed something like that?’

‘It’s possible.’ Shu says in the silence. ‘Since until sixth victim, the cases were looked at separately, and afterwards, the teams focused on linear tracking, rather than figuring out their operating tactics.’ he raises his hand. ‘If you all agree, I want this to be ran through few other criteria, like time and order and so on, my Group can take care of such analysis. Maybe we’ll be able to predict their next move, and prepare for it more actively-’

‘If we can, I’d like this to stay only among us.’ Morihito quickly intercepts. ‘Or, just our investigation forces.’

‘Why?’ Tsubasa quirks an eyebrow, but Mori answers without hesitation.

‘Ren’s hearing. It will happen on the last Friday of the month. I don’t want to give the hunters time to prepare scenario to counter our arguments.’

Tsubasa groans.

‘Right. They will leech onto one plausible scenario they figured out, and won’t let go of it until we tear it from their cold hands.’ he says, and Shu chuckles.

‘That’s a bit overdramatized.’ he points out, before humming. ‘But I agree, we need to make them quickly and definitely see the extent of their mistake, or this investigation won’t move forwards, while the children will keep disappearing. In that case, Munakata-kun’s hearing is the best place to expose that. The problem is, won’t it stress... no, forget I’ve said anything.’

He looks away, but Tsubasa can easily connect the way Shu glanced at Morihito with his words. He smiles wryly.

‘Should you worry about others being stressed out? Isn’t your Unit going to be tested literally three days after the hearing?’ he points out, and remaining two in the room oh.

‘Right. There was also that...’

‘It’s okay.’ Shu says quickly, noticing the apologetic way with which Kouki and Mori looked at him. ‘It’s actually better that the attention is off of us, Eichi and the twins can focus on just training like that.’

Nobody misses the proud smile that flickers on Composer’s face at the mention of his Singers.

‘I’m sure we will be okay.’ he looks at Morihito. ‘That’s why, let’s figure out the way to have Soara back together by then. Tsubasa-kun’s comparison to the Field actually gave me an idea...’

*

Ren is quiet, and Nozomu doesn’t like it.

It’s not that Ren is loud normally - that’s Nozomu’s job. It’s that, he’s not _this_ quiet.

These past few weeks did their job at mellowing out his naturally mellow presence even more, and Nozomu, watching it nonstop from besides his boyfriend, feels his heart bleed. Even though Soushi makes sure Ren’s family (and Nozomu by extension) are still supplied with the amounts of blood appropriate for their needs, and hunters that keep watch over family acted responsibly, with slight sheepishness, as if they didn’t believe their presence was even needed there, it all weighs down on Ren.

Or maybe just his inability to help find his student does.

There were interrogations, countless interrogations, some of which Nozomu was not let to stay by Ren’s side (he reluctantly let go only when Soushi was present, his trust in Ren’s Pact Guardian the only thing keeping him from flipping the table), and which no exception left Ren pale and upset, even when he tried not to show that. He also grows to have problem with feeding, managing to swallow a mouthful or two before asking Nozomu to finish his portion off. He usually manages to pester him to drink at least half of the pack, before having to give up to avoid Ren’s irritation, or worse, breakdown.

(It happened once, vampire screaming at Nozomu, about how he shouldn’t care about Ren, because he was an useless teacher that couldn’t even predict danger and protect his student, letting down his friends, failing his Composer. Nozomu would rather not repeat it.)

He reports to Soushi-senpai, obviously, but even his Guard’s words have little power over Ren’s guilt. It doesn’t help that there were multiple glyphs set on the Munakata’s house, causing even Nozomu to feel stifled. For the air sensor like his boyfriend, this containment was just a perfect environment for doubts and guilt to raise to an unhealthy level.

Thankfully, Nozomu manages to keep Ren sane for the first ten days, after which Munakatas finally were allowed to meet with the family of their abducted student. His boyfriend comes out of that meeting much lighter, and Nozomu suspects it has to do with the phrase „absurd to blame or suspect you” he’s heard said - very loudly - in a high-pitched female voice not belonging to Ren’s mother.

So. Not all humans (excluding their friends) were blind to the fact his boyfriend was the most perfect being on earth. Good.

Over time, he develops skills to bring out the actual Ren, the smiling gently Ren, worried for their senpais and Nozomu as if Mori-senpai didn’t do the same Ren, the serious and collected Ren helping him with stuff he slept through during the lesson, and the softly blushing Ren that only he ever got to see.

Nozomu looks out the window, at the perfectly round moon. According to what both Mori-senpai and Soushi-senpai has said, tomorrow will be the last day of containment, with the hearing turning official, with all sides engaged in the case present.

That means Ren should probably rest, but it seemed his boyfriend had another idea.

They are in Ren’s room, guest futon spread out for Nozomu to use whenever he wished to, back of Ren’s hair in his sight as he did some calligraphy? or learning, Nozomu wasn’t sure, by his desk.

He’s been at it for the past four hours.

Of course, he’s told Nozomu he doesn’t need to wait for him.

And of course, Nozomu waits, because well, if there’s one person he’s willing to stop for, it’s Ren. Has always been Ren. Their senpais come close, like really close, but.

Ren takes the top.

‘Nozomu? You really don’t have to wait.’ Ren says, half turning to him, and the moonlight hits his eyes just right, covering the dark spots underneath them, and exposing that silvery shine they got whenever he was pleased, or when they Sang.

Nozomu knew his melody oftentimes causes Sora-san problems during the actual Song, his voice slipping from the course Composer prepared for it. He assigns it to their friendship that Sora-san continues to dutifully Compose his voice in, after Nozomu admitted to having the problems with control because all he wants to watch is Ren’s eyes during the Song.

Then again, it might be because Sora-san also looks at Soushi-senpai’s and Mori-senpai’s himself... only that’s woven into his Songs.

Hmm... after he confessed, the Songs started to feel like they also had his view of Ren’s in them, though.

‘Nozomu...?’

Speaking of which, didn’t Ren just said he doesn’t need to wait anymore? He stands up, and then comes to the other vampire.

‘Nozomu-?!’

He knows exactly where to grab to make sure his boyfriend cannot struggle out of his grip, even as he gently pulls him out of his chair, and onto futon, taking the blanket off of the bed on his way there.

‘You said I don’t have to wait anymore.’ he excuses himself, even as he drapes the material around his boyfriend into a neat Ren-burrito, which he’ll be able to hug properly through the night, keeping his boyfriend from fidgeting and getting up out of stress. Ren squeaks, but gives up after nominal amount of struggle, and Nozomu hums, pleased, as he flops down on the futon.

‘W-We could use the bed, you know.’ Ren stammers, then adds even quicker, feeling as Nozomu’s energy redirects into figuring out how to safely transport Ren onto bed without letting go of him. ‘Besides, I don’t want to lay down. Not yet.’

It was rare for Ren to request something out of ordinary. Even when Nozomu would hear him tossing around through most of the night, Ren insisted on laying down at healthy hours.

Well, no matter, he doesn’t protest at Nozomu’s grip on him, so. High hums lightly, before raising, Ren-burrito tucked safely against him as he sits on his futon, side of the bed frame behind his back.

‘This good?’ he asks, looking down at Ren, and his boyfriend sighs with a nod.

They descend into a moment of silence, but Nozomu knows the day- well night- is not over just yet. It won’t be until he has asleep Ren curled just next to him, holding onto his hand to keep himself from descending too deep into his dreams, to a place where nightmares awaited him.

Nozomu was totally fine with being Ren’s anchor.

‘Nozomu?’ Ren says in the silence that wrapped them in another, comfortable blanket. ‘I’m scared. Of tomorrow.’

Nozomu hums. He’s not good at being delicate, like Mori-senpai or his big brother, and this seemed to require it. Well, his straightforwardness must make up for it with all the power of reassurance he has.

‘You won’t be alone. I won’t let you be alone.’ he states simply, tugging the burrito closer to himself, feeling silver hair tickle his chin. ‘Soushi-senpai also won’t let you be alone. Mori-senpai as well.’

Ren nods, so Nozomu continues.

‘Plus, I don’t think anybody will blame you. I mean, the people that really could are not?’ at this, Ren smiles slightly, the memory of meeting elder Kagiyamas fresh despite days passing since then. Then, it’s wiped off.

‘But then... everybody are-’

‘They help us because they want to help you.’ Nozomu interrupts. ‘I would, too-’

‘You do.’ it’s Ren’s turn to interrupt him, softly. ‘You’re helping, Nozomu.’

‘If you say so... Ren is smarter one out of us, so, I believe in you.’ Nozomu grins easily, and Ren looks up with wonder.

‘You’re smart too, Nozomu.’ he chuckles. ‘Just, a bit different.’

‘And that smart guy believes in you, Ren!’ Nozomu grins, and this time, Ren’s smile stays where it should be. ‘And, no matter what, tomorrow I’ll be with you, alright? Our friends will, too.’

Ren lays his head on Nozomu’s shoulder. His parents has already gotten used to physical shows of affection of Nozomu, and it seemed they were slowly getting the idea they are more than just friends...

They still were best of friends, too, though. And probably that was why he could entrust Nozomu with this unsightly part of him...

He looks up at the moon, peeking in through the window.

‘I wonder if there’s a Song about friendship.’ he wonders, and almost can hear Nozomu grin.

‘Let’s ask Sora-senpai to make one, if there’s none! We can Sing it afterwards!’

Ah.

For the past few, well, now it had been weeks, Ren’s mind was unable to comprehend the idea of the future beyond tomorrow. Different to Nozomu, he quite easily understood what was the narrative surrounding them, and few reluctant comments by Mori-senpai just made it all the more clear. The idea of being a scapegoat made him terrified of thinking far into the future, to the point even repetitive practice exercises kept his panic barely at a bay, and powers from leashing out.

And yet, just the mention of the music, of the Song to Sing together, makes him smile. He wonders if that’s the magic Sora-senpai feels all the time, as the Composer who can see music at all times... he’ll need to ask him, if he-

Nozomu’s arms squeeze him stronger, enough to feel it through the blanket, and Ren smiles.

When he has a chance, he’ll ask his senpai. For now, he just says:

‘Sounds nice. Let’s do it.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ren-burrito might be the favorite concept I came up with for this chapter, right next to Sora's boyfriends using him as a plush toy to make them sleep better (also boys, aren't your beds single... you'll wake up with cramps-)  
> Anyway, you probably know it, but the hearing happens next chapter! Go guess the title of it away! Lol. It will be a solo, since the fourth unit, whose turn it is now, still hasn't made appearance in Dreamers, at least not in set, but their leader already is feature-*shot*  
> Thanks for reading!


	8. End of Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This does not count as Quell's title, alright? Even though it is xD  
> Anyway, enjoy hearing (it's kinda boring) and a snippet of the boys after it! (which is much more amusing to see, I hope)

The room is big, not as giant as their training rooms, but big enough to fit anybody interested. It wasn’t judging hall, per se, but its interior was set up to resemble one, with the two sides of the room occupied by the benches set to face each other, and then rows of benches under the wall with the entrance to the room. Then, instead of a judge’s seat, there was a semi-circle of chairs, facing the audience.  
  
Ren has a good view on the hall, partly because of the suspect’s seat at the very front of the left wing, but mostly because the room, while still secured with glyphs, is much more spacious and airy than the surroundings he spent almost whole of the last month in.  
  
Although... the air is full of distrust, hate and contempt. It’s so thick that even Nozomu, who usually didn’t notice those things, started lowering his voice. He still jokes and goofs around, and that normalcy in his behavior reassures Ren more than he probably should admit. They get briefly separated when his boyfriend runs to quickly greet his calmer and bigger version that turns out to be his older brother, head of his family, and additionally one of the supervisors from vampire’s side. Though the term supervisor wasn’t really a suitable for hearings like this, where both sides will be vying to gain upper hand over the other, meaning supervisors will pick at every little detail presented in the reports, stories, and theories of the opposite side, until they reach the consensus as to what to do with the situation... which usually could last a while.  
  
Ren just wished to have it behind himself.  
  
Most of the seats slowly fill up, the ones on the opposite side of the hall used by the Hunters from Backstage Battle, most lesser, or from minor High families, not prominent enough to have a seat reserved for them in the judging slash supervisor panel.  
  
Then there’s quite a number of people filling up the benches for spectators, and there’s a fair amount of hostility coming from there. There’s also few spectating vampires, but they stay near the door, correctly reading the air of this hearing.  
  
So, Ren muses, desperately trying not to let his sensor sense slip out of control, the set would be vampires on the left, hunters on the right, and casual people in the middle. With few exceptions, all followed that outline, even the judging panel, with High vampires sitting closer to Ren’s position, and High hunters taking the seats farther away.  
  
One of exceptions though, just happened to also be a High vampire, walking through the door, conversation with a lesser hunter animated and obviously friendly, and Ren relaxes at the familiar sight.  
  
‘Senpai!’ Nozomu jumps up and waves - unnecessarily, as the pair was heading their way anyway.  
  
‘Nozomu, don’t shout in the hall.’ Morihito-senpai gently scolds, while Soushi casually ruffles younger High’s hair.  
  
‘You weren’t causing trouble to Munakata-san, right?’ he asks, before turning to Ren’s parents. ‘Sorry for dumping him on you in that situation.’  
  
‘Soushi-senpai!’ Nozomu whines, prompting a weak giggle from Ren’s mom.  
  
‘He was a sweetheart, don’t worry, Sou-kun.’ her husband just nods, expression as stoic and befitting of the master of a dojo, even if the deep eyebags seemed to be prevalent under his eyes.  
  
‘Nanase-san definitely lightened the atmosphere.’ he says, ignoring the subtle amused smirk Soushi showed at the suffix. He then softens his voice. ‘And you know how important it was for my son.’  
  
‘Yeah.’ Soushi sighs, before finally turning to Ren. ‘Doing good, Ren?’  
  
Ren slowly tilts his head.  
  
‘I’m... not sure.’ he finally admits honestly. He was a mess of self-confidence issues, stress and guilt, all of it mixed with the backlash of withheld sensory powers. At this point, he really wasn’t sure what was it that he felt and what was that he just sensed, or overheard, or simply imagined.  
  
He missed Songs, the state of conscious awareness of four more minds, thoughts and feelings, of unity and controlled chaos that was music... at least within their frame, the mess he felt turned into something beautiful.  
  
Soushi nods in understanding. Well, granted, he did confess to his big brother figure a similar thing just a few days ago...  
  
‘Want me to check it?’ hunter asks, and Ren gratefully confirms. ‘Alright then, close your eyes.’  
  
Ren does as asked, they underwent this so many times in his childhood that he lost count of the times Soushi checked on his senses’ state-  
  
‘With all due respect, hunter Kagurazaka-’ speaks up one of the hunters tasked with guarding the bench of the accused.  
  
‘Huh?’ Soushi doesn’t bother even turning to the speaker, putting back of his palm to Ren’s forehead. Marks on his hand start shining softly. ‘I’m not here as a hunter, but as the Guard of one of the defendants. Breathe, Ren.’  
  
‘But still, if you know he’s the defendant, you also know that interfering on the criminal’s state-’  
  
‘Until proven guilty, Ren is my charge, junior, and Unitmate.’ Soushi interrupts again, withdrawing his hand. ‘As such, just as he has a duty to listen to me and follow the rules of society that assigned him the Guardian, said Guardian, read: me, has a duty to observe his behavior, report any concerning events, but also keep prejudice at bay and help him with assimilation to the society he agreed to live in. I’m pretty sure helping with keeping his powers from bursting in our faces would fall into that last category. You’re good to go, Ren.’

Ren blinks his eyes, and then nods.  
  
‘Well, since you’ve started it yourself, and we have the most important players present, I presume we could start the case.’ speaks the High from the hunter’s side closest to the empty chairs in the middle. ‘Please take your seats, ladies and gentlemen.’  
  
Soushi and Mori exchange glances, before simultaneously turning and choosing to sit down next to Ren’s family. Nozomu grins at them from beside his boyfriend, but Soushi can catch few surprised and even displeased glances aimed at Mori from the vampire Highs’ side. He stifles smirk.  
  
It was going to be interesting.  
  
*  
  
They start with what everyone by now know of the case - overview of the kidnapping events, the symptoms that led to treating them as a coordinated crime rather than separate accidents, and finally, the overview of the sixteenth victim’s case, with the broken sword brought up as a confirmation of the victim’s presence. The hunter finishes his overview with a short:  
  
‘We believe that only vampires are capable of such coordinated acts and possess enough power to overwhelm a person trained in a war art like the sword mastery. The only no doubt more powerful vampires in direct proximity, as well as the ones having final contact with the last victims, are Munakatas.’  
  
There’s an angry murmur from the audience, and Soushi looks to his side. He catches Mori’s eye, but the vampire minimally shakes his head.  
  
‘While we don’t suspect their direct involvement in all of the cases, there’s too many pointers suggesting at least connection with the last one.’  
  
‘If I remember correctly, you’ve kept the family on house arrest for the past month specifically to be able to investigate that possible connection.’ finally speaks up Morihito. ‘While I sit here, I’m also a representative of vampire council selected for official investigation of the case on our side. We didn’t find anything of sorts, which is why I’d like to ask whether human investigation found anything.’  
  
Aaaand that was the first nail.  
  
‘Unfortunately, we did not.’ says the hunter through clenched teeth. ‘But that does not prove lack of such connection, the time was-’

‘Definitely enough to get at least a lead.’ Mori says softly. ‘But well, we also haven’t found a clue, and believe me when I say it would definitely be beneficial for our side to find it before you. I believe the middle ground investigation, the one led by a joint forces of High Support family and Groups-’  
  
‘Oh dear, you were even aware of us.’ Kisaragi says with her sweet voice. ‘Though I shouldn’t expect less from the heir of Arihara house, should I. Well, we’re also unaware of that connection, unless Etou-san was informed otherwise by his s-no, I understand.’  
  
‘With three groups working on the same single case-’ starts one or the other High Hunter, but they’re interrupted by the Kisaragi group’s head again.  
  
‘Oh, my, but we weren’t working on one case.’ here, her tone loses its merry tinge. ‘We were working to solve a situation going on for the quarter of the year, threatening my groupmates. It’s a bit different than trying to ruin one family for the sake of good publicity.’  
  
‘Kisaragi-sama, you’re bringing really heavy cannons for the very start of the meet.’ Mori sweatdrops, and the lady huffs.  
  
‘I also know you’re working as earnestly as you do mostly because it regards your beloved Unit, Arihara-kun.’ she says. ‘I don’t mind it, because where the heart is, there’s also a good power following it, but. For me, and other Group’s heads while we’re at it, it’s a matter of tens, hundreds, and even thousands of lives we’re supposed to protect, so. If you’ve planned to drag the case of your teammate for whatever reason, be aware I will go against you.’  
  
‘My, I cannot ignore such a warning.’ Mori smiles, and suddenly, Soushi knows the stage was theirs. ‘With permission of everyone gathered, I’d like to present facts in favor of defendants.’  
  
Munakatas look at Soushi, but when the hunter nods, look back to the High vampire, and officially let him take it over in their name.  
  
‘The points gathered by hunters investigating are all very real hints; that being said, they are also nothing but hints. With all due respect, they can be deflected with maybe three facts and an opinion or so.’ Mori smiles, correcting his glasses. ‘Number one, the accused are suspected due to being last contact of the sixteenth victim. Putting aside the fact it would be a cardinal mistake a large scale traffickers would never risk aside, I’d like to point out the fact hunters suspect strong involvement of Munakata Ren, while not even bringing up the fact he was not at the dojo during the predicted time of the accident.’  
  
Noticing few mouths opening, Mori quickly adds.  
  
‘To be more specific, Ren was with us, his Field Unit, preparing for a late-night dispatch for patrol support, since our counterpart Unit was in Recovery.’ he clarifies, prompting jaws to close. ‘Second reason, I’d like to bring up the fact that Ren is a sensor, air sensor to be specific. All feelings of pain, fear, hatred will affect him directly. Even those feelings of the people currently in this room.’  
  
He looks pointedly into the audience.  
  
‘And while just like any sensor, he has learned to control the intensity of receiving those feelings, sharp spikes still permeate through the barriers.’ he smiles wryly. ‘I was, apparently, a reason of that multiple times, so while embarrassing, I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.’  
  
‘I’m really sorry...’ Ren mumbles, bowing in his seat, and Nozomu playfully bumps their shoulders together. Mori smiles fondly, before calling the professional mask back.  
  
‘Sharp emotional pain or fear are rather hard to hide, especially for Singers working with their Composer. Ours is really strongly attuned, and just in case, I did ask if any of us seemed off or different during the period before the kidnapping happened. And the one named was actually Kagurazaka Soushi-kun.’  
  
‘You’re seriously going to include me in the picture like that?’ Soushi asks, standing up nonetheless. Mori smiles.  
  
‘You can take it from there yourself, or I can explain it. Either way should be plausible.’  
  
‘You save your throat. It’s not all you’ll have to talk.’ Soushi waves his hand, before turning to the hall. ‘So, as I’ve said before we even started, name’s Kagurazaka Soushi, Munakata’s Ren’s Guardian of... almost a year now. Then, of four years before that. I’m responsible for supervising Ren while outside of vampire exclusive district.’  
  
He raises his hand to show the wide mark of Guardian, causing few shifts in the audience and curious tilting of more than one head in the council seats.  
  
‘As some might’ve noticed, the Mark is wider than the standard version.’ Soushi continues. ‘That’s because, with official reports of ninth victim, I’ve spread the spectrum of supervision over my charge. Before somebody says it's abuse of power, Ren was aware of it.’  
  
Ren nods, showing his own, similarly enlarged mark.  
  
‘Why would you do that?’ asks somebody from the prosecution’s side.  
  
‘Because until then we didn’t confirm the approximate profile of the perfect victim.’ Soushi returns calmly. ‘We only knew they were males in majority, and that the youngest child was nine, the oldest, sixteen. Ren, as the only one in our Unit, didn’t have the presence of the High, or looks of person above the threshold.’  
  
He pauses.  
  
‘Though Mo- Arihara and Nanase are also still on the line with that last one.’  
  
Mori smiles, amused.  
  
‘I’ll catch up to you in six years.’ he answers.  
  
‘Our theme is youth, so it’s good to have somebody forever young in the Unit.’ Soushi returns, while producing a stack of papers. ‘Just to make sure, as soon as Ren informed me of charges against him - which I also believe is a sign of his good will, since I wasn’t officially informed by the other side, _as should be custom_ - I’ve made a screening of the energy levels Ren used in the seventy-two hour period of the before, during and after the kidnapping.’  
  
He taps the papers.  
  
‘I’m pretty sure I submitted them to all investigating parties that requested them, but in case they got _lost_ ,’ he says sarcastically, ‘I’ve put the chart over the outline of Ren’s schedule for those days, and all spikes in energy that appeared were either Soara training sessions or Soara’s Songs, no abnormality showing up. Physically-’  
  
He looks at his charge.  
  
‘-no offense to Ren, but his strength doesn’t lay in his muscle. If anything, I’d say it was speed, and considering the kidnapped child managed to draw his sword, I’d exclude quick and precise attacker.’  
  
‘That’s not all.’ Ren speaks up softly, but when Soushi nods at him, he continues. ‘Yuma-kun is much more advanced level than most children his age. He wouldn’t go without a fight against a single opponent, and would make a ruckus even with multiple foes. The fact his shinai got broken... it takes effort to do that, so it either happened in a fight or after he was disarmed, as a revenge for sword causing problems.’  
  
‘So, you’re saying you wouldn’t be able to defeat your student?’ nastily asks hunter from the opposing bench, but Ren takes the question seriously.  
  
‘Not in a way that wouldn’t be noticeable to the neighbors. Definitely not quickly.’  
  
‘And none of your neighbors noticed anything.’ sighs Mori. ‘We’ve checked it also separately from the hunters, and it seems to be true.’  
  
There’s a shift, before the hunter closest to the middle of the judge part of the room once again speaks up with a sigh.  
  
‘I see the alibi is stronger than the accusation itself, at least for the youngest of the defendants.’ he shifts in his chair. ‘Still, for the sake of predictability, Arihara mentioned opinion speaking in favor of the Munakata family.’  
  
‘Ah, that... I think Kagurazaka-kun should bring and question this witness, for the sake of lessening the trauma, Mutsuki-san.’ Mori says, and there’s a gentle tone in his voice, even as he turns to the audience. ‘Are you up to it, Kagiyama-san?’  
  
The whisper goes through the hall as a whole, but the lady, a tiny middle-aged woman with chestnut hair and eyes the same color seem to be ignoring all of it.  
  
‘Just for the record, we don’t have trauma, we have a missing son.’ she says, once she makes her way through the aisle in the middle of audience seats, to stand right in front of the judging panel. ‘And I’ve been repeating over and over, how you guys have wrong vampires in custody.’  
  
‘Do you have a reason for stating that?’ Mutsuki senior asks with sincere curiosity. Mrs Kagiyama nervously tug at her hair, but she also stares at the man defiantly.  
  
‘Well, you’ve told us to assimilate with vampires first, then at first sign of trouble turn to blame our neighbors, not the big shots you’re making your deals with, that’s one.’  
  
There’s few angered murmurs on both sides of the council, but the head of Kisaragi group smiles with satisfaction.  
  
‘I like her.’ she says, just loud enough to be heard by her direct neighbors and defenders’ bench.  
  
‘Second, Yuma’s been attending kendo lessons in Munakata dojo since he was three. I would maybe suspect something if anything happened since their move to the vampire district, but the family stayed the same; they supported our case for passes to the district and until they were new to the neighborhood, I walked Yuma to the dojo, and Munakata-san or Ren-kun or Kinoya-san - that’s the name of another human student at the dojo- walked Yuma back to the border. Then, their neighbors got used to us, Yuma started calling them by their names, and we got included in the neighborhood’s help... I know I sound just like a naive idealizing housewife, but I stand by my belief it’s absolute idiocy to suspect the Munakatas.’  
  
‘Gaining victim’s trust before kidnapping is also one of the tactics-’ starts someone from the prosecution’s bench, but Mrs Kagiyama throws him a chilling glare.  
  
‘And they would do that for well over a decade? I’d say that’s a lot of dedication.’ she says through clenched teeth, and Soushi nods appreciatively.  
  
He could see why Munakata-san always spoke of Yuma’s mother with respect, and why the woman was really liked by Ren’s mom. She had guts.  
  
‘Kagiyama-san, thank you very much.’ he says, before turning towards the panel of judges. ‘Are there possibly any other questions for Kagiyama-san? Because if there’s none, I wouldn’t want to keep her standing.’  
  
‘I don’t think they will be needed.’ Mutsuki senior nods. ‘We’re sorry for taking up your time, madam.’

‘I’m sorry you’re taking up your time with that instead of looking for my son, like you’ve promised!’ the woman snaps back, then mellows out. ‘If there’s something to look for still.’  
  
‘There is, madam. I’m sure of it.’ Kisaragi’s head says in her most comforting voice. It might be the years of living with humans, or simply her friendly appearance, enough to say her words seem to work on Yuma’s mother. Soushi makes a point on escorting her back to her husband, who waits for her at the doorstep. The two throw encouraging looks Munakatas’ way, before disappearing behind the door.  
  
‘Don’t be too harsh on her?’ Kisaragi once more turns to the hunters. ‘She lost a child, and well, has a bit of right, scolding us for staging a resolution to an unsolved case?’  
  
‘And how would you know that, madam Kisaragi?’ deceptively sweet asks the man from the farthest side of the judgement panel.  
  
Group’s head just smiles, but there’s a sadness in her eyes.  
  
‘Which Group didn’t lose a child or a hundred during Great Tragedy... we have longer lives, and so have memory of many more losses than you do, Hozuki-san.’ she answers, and Soara members present in the room inhale like one. ‘As for the latter accusation of mine... you must admit your side’s investigations brought up at best plausible hypotheses, rather than foolproof truth.’  
  
There were few demeaning snorts from the vampire side, and Soushi can see a few people grinding their teeth. Mutsuki senior, however, just nods his head slowly.  
  
‘Well, we do work on surprisingly little material for sixteen eradicated lives... however isn’t that a bit peculiar, that we have replacement culprits, as you insist Munakatas are, yet the case of Kagiyama Yuma is the last registered kidnapping case?’  
  
There’s a few victorious grins on hunters' side, but they all freeze as a chorus of three voices speaks up.  
  
‘It’s not-ah.’ Soushi and Mori exchange glances above Ren’s head, before turning to Kisaragi’s head, who spoke with them.  
  
‘We probably should let you speak up first, madam.’ finally, Mori says softly. ‘I presume it has to do with your own investigation you’ve mentioned at the beginning of this hearing.’  
  
‘Well, there’s another investigator, I’m not the only one...’ Kisaragi stops, before smiling knowingly and looking in the direction of the doors leading into the room. ‘Ah, it seems they’re there.’

Ren caught that sound earlier, but now more and more heads moved as the footsteps came closer and closer towards the room.  
  
Then the door opens, and Ren feels his body straightening on reflex, but he’s not the only one.  
  
General Tsukino walks in, but the ones following him aren’t his usual Backstage aides, and Ren can feel surprise on all his sides.  
  
‘Sora?’  
  
Their leader is walking right behind the female leaders of the special Units, his pair a Growth leader, and two vampire Composers from Field Battle Units closing the entourage.  
  
‘At rest, boys.’ Tsukino throws in the direction of the defendant bench, even as he passes by the room to get to the chair reserved for involved judging parties. ‘Forgive our tardiness, we’ve had a sudden call just before leaving for here.’  
  
‘No, more pressingly- why were you planning to go- actually came for the meeting regarding inner shelter matters, General Tsukino?’ asks suspiciously one of the Hunters. ‘Not to undermine your role on the Field, but in the inner politics you’re just as-’  
  
‘If it was just an inner matter, you would not see me.’ General answers, sitting down on an empty chair in the middle of the panel, female leaders taking seat on his either side, and males spreading behind them. ‘But- I guess you haven’t realized it hasn’t been solely an inner matter for almost a month now? Possibly never was.’  
  
‘What do you mean?’ ask the hunter from the prosecution bench. Tsukino looks at him.  
  
‘I wonder why one of your culprits, together with his emotional support and two defendants, almost stood to full attention upon noticing me, and calling one of my Unit’s leaders by his name?’  
  
‘That’s-’  
  
‘Oohara.’ Tsukino sighs. ‘Name your Singers, please.’  
  
‘Wha-Wai\- General, is that-’ shockingly, Ren is the one to almost stand up at the request, but Nozomu catches at his shoulder.  
  
‘Look at senpai’s eyes.’ he murmurs, and Ren almost flinches at the realization that yes, Sora is unabashedly showing everyone the world of sounds, swimming in his eyes in the same way it does in the eyes of two other Composers at his side. Then, their senior makes a step forward.  
  
‘Munakata Ren. Nanase Nozomu. Kagurazaka Soushi, Arihara Morihito.’ he pauses. ‘Also doubling as the members of the Field Support Unit Soara.’  
  
He didn’t even stutter. Confirming the secret he’s held on to for years to the Highs of both sides, and he didn’t even hesitate.  
  
‘Exactly.’ Tsukino looks at one, then the other side. ‘That’s the reason number one we’ve intruded with the leaders. Reason number two...’  
  
‘Ah, I was about to speak about it.’ Kisaragi’s head raises her hand with a smile. ‘If I could borrow two of your captains, obviously, since the two of them are my investigation companions.’  
  
Her smile drops.

‘Also, new indirect victims of the case.’ she adds softly. ‘I’m sorry, Izumi-kun. The message has reached me just as we were to start this hearing.’

Ren shifts in place. He didn’t like where this was going... really didn’t like.

Shu shakes his head slowly. Then, he reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a dark blue crystal.

‘Until I will feel his life passing away, I’m not giving up on finding him. Even if I barely can sense him right now.’ he says, before stepping inbetween General’s and Tsubaki’s chairs. ‘Since not everyone in the room are familiar with it, allow me to explain: the thing I’m holding in my hand is Water Memory Crystal. It stores memories of my body, which are much more precise than memories of just mind, from this morning, when I received the news about the latest victim. That just so happened to be a member of my Group.’

He side-eyes the Munakata family.

‘I’ll mute some sensations so as not to overwhelm everyone in the room. What a head feels when having a member in danger is... not pleasant, no matter the time that passes.’

Without further ado, he grips the crystal, and suddenly, they are no longer in the hearing room. Or, well, they are, but the sensations they receive are subdued, as if the picture of it was overlaid with the... corridor in Tsukino main building?

Then they hear Shu’s voice, but slightly different- as if it was their own.

_‘Eichi, you go on ahead. It’s not something you need to focus on right now.’_

_‘Alright then.’ answers a warm voice with just a tinge of concern. ‘Isse, Icchi, let’s go. What do you wanna for dinner?’_

_‘Shu.’ there’s much younger voice there, cutting off the older one. They still don’t see the speaker. ‘We’re still here, alright?’_

_‘Sorry, Issei.’ there’s a sense of unease they all felt until now, suddenly disappearing. ‘I know. I’ll be coming back late, so don’t wait for me.’_

_‘Alright. Let’s go, Ichiru.’_

_Noncommittal hum answers the other voice, and all of them feel small burst of fondness, before dread fills them anew._

‘I knew you were with them.’ mutters Shiki from his position, and Sora finally realizes how to separate the sensations shown to them by Shu’s memory and their own senses. He looks around, but the focused expressions of other captains don’t really change. Seconds later the sensations change again, and he realizes Shu has increased the visibility of his memory.

_‘Report please, Dengo-san.’ says Shu, and they realise there’s a man in front of Shu, with a crest of Izumis on his armband, bowed in half. He straightens._

_‘We’ve lost contact with Shinozaka Ari, his patrol senior cannot find him anywhere.’ he says nervously, and they all feel a stone drop to the bottom of their stomachs, before adrenaline starts coursing through their veins. Or, well, Izumi's head’s veins._

Shu starts to walk, they can see the walls move even though hearing hall stays in place.

_‘Region they were patrolling?’_

_‘Sector H, near the Surugaya Ramen place is the last time his partner saw him. We’re still trying to reach out to him-’_

_‘He’s most likely unconscious, if it’s what I think it is.’ Shu interrupts the messenger, his pace picking up,_ not aware of deep inhale Mori does in the hearing hall _. ‘Inform Etous, and call back any of the people involved in patrolling this region, as well as regions E,J,L, younger than Ari.’_

_‘Anybody under sixteen, sir?’_

_‘Exactly. There should be at least three other children in training in those regions. Withdraw them and warn all of the Group members, not to let younger ones out of their sight. It probably was just a one-time event, but since there was one double kidnapping during one of the past weeks, I’d rather we do not have to split the search party.’_

_‘Search?’_

_‘If Ari is still within the borders of the shelter, I should be able to somewhat track him. Maybe we will manage to capture whoever got to him.’ Shu says and tenseness of his voice clearly shows how much effort it takes from him not to just burst through the building and into the town in search of his member. With fatal results for whoever the kidnapper was._

Sora blinks, as the memory fades to darkness, but... not completely.

_There’s a weak, white light, dim, incredibly dim, but still there, moving lifelessly through the emptiness towards the horizon. No matter how much they strained their eyes, it was going dimmer by the second, until finally disappearing just out of their sight._

Shu closes the crystal in both hands, finishing the memory, and sighs deeply.

‘I wish the continuation I could show you was a successful rescue mission.’ Shu says slowly in the deadly silence of the room. ‘As it is, Ari remains nineteenth and the final victim of the kidnapping spree.’  
  
Mori blinks.  
  
‘Nineteenth?’ he and Soushi chorus that, and Shu nods, but the one to answer is actually Kouki.  
  
‘Seventeenth victim appeared just outside Akiba, exactly a week after the official announcement of Munakatas’ custody. Eighteenth comes from the Yaegashi domain, an heiress to Muramachi family, and was actually one of our best shots at getting the necessary intel on the possible traffickers.’ he explains. ‘However, just as Izumi-san, we’ve lost contact with her moments after the tracing signals she used on herself moved outside the shelter barriers.’  
  
‘However, those two cases confirmed a very important point we thought worth sharing, considering your accused vampires are lesser family with no connection to the outside of the shelter.’ Tsukino says, hands put together in front of himself. ‘Except for their son’s occupation, but for that, I can guarantee it would be hard to hide something from us. Field forces are under constant supervision, of each other, our medical Units, and obviously the spy-figures both councils decided to implement to supervise the progress from inside.’  
  
‘If you were aware of it, can you call that espionage?’ grumbles one of the vampires, and Tsukino smiles wryly.  
  
‘The point still stands. Unless any of the investigations discovered Munakatas’ connection to the outside, I believe we should presume they, as well as most lesser families operating solely within shelters, are out of our scope of suspects.’ he says crossing his legs. ‘Which would exclude a greater part of our community, but rather small part of Higher families.’  
  
The room erupts into chaos at that, both sides trying to express their outrage at being appointed suspects quicker, but there were few considering looks thrown from both sides as well. Then, it all dies down, as the giant purple flame explodes above everyone’s heads, before disappearing without harming anybody.  
  
‘Can we hurry to the conclusion.’ Shiki asks dryly, lowering his hand. ‘I have my Singers on the Field, fighting with Marionettes as we speak, and I’d rather be able to join them than argue pointlessly with you for the rest of the day.’  
  
‘Okui is on the Field?!’ somebody says and all heads turn as one to the older-looking blond man sitting near Mutsuki senior. Okui Mitsumasa shrugs off those stares.  
  
‘What do you expect me to say? We’re hunters. We fight. And Tsubasa is a Field fighter. Where else could my son be?’ he asks rhetorically, before turning to his neighbor. ‘Tsukino does have a point, though, don’t you think, Mutsuki? It’s hard to imagine lesser vampires would be able to hide a connection with the Field from us, so it does suggest such connection doesn’t exist.’  
  
‘Hmm. You agree, Hajime?’ his speaker asks his son, standing just behind his cousin’s seat.  
  
‘Not only me, father.’ Hajime addresses the older man. ‘All our forces agree that this whole arrest and investigation became a smokescreen that real criminals used to their advantage, instead of getting spooked by it. Their movements became much more coordinated, too.’  
  
‘And since it’s a plausible suspicion we have a mole among councils, letting forces independent from them go for it is also a surefire tactic to get children back in one piece.’ Yuki adds. ‘Since we now are aware of their state through Izumi-san...’  
  
‘You want Tsukino to handle it?!’ there is outrage again, but General Tsukino just sighs loudly.

‘I don’t care whoever gets to say they handled it. As long as I can get my leaders to stop bursting through my doors in fury or panic, I’ll be pleased.’

‘Who else- no, nevermind.’ Sora says quickly, not looking in the direction of his teammates.

‘And I’ve been calling for creation of more independent forces since forever, so. We’re the largest independent faculty on your own wish.’ dryly finishes Tsukino. ‘We will gladly accept help from any other independent force, though.’

‘Who said we will hand over the management of the case-’ starts the hunter sitting on the prosecution’s bench, but Mutsuki senior stands up abruptly, cutting him off.

‘I say.’ he calmly says. ‘While you hyperfixated on one weak lead, we’ve lost three more children. What else is there to do than to pass this case to forces that already figured out more than we did?’

‘Just for the record.’ Okui says, raising his hand. ‘I agree with Mutsuki. Especially since in case of Tsukino, we all have this one friend, son or daughter we will be able to ask about the progress without raising suspicions, so. There’s little knowledge we really lose.’

‘Only power.’ somebody grumbles, but Etou senior nods.

‘Only power. But, power without good use is just really a brute force.’ he says loudly. ‘And power unable to help people is really useless. I agree with my predecessors. Drop the charges against Munakata’s family and have the investigation files moved to Tsukino... those that they don’t have yet, at least.’

‘Agreed.’ Okui and Mutsuki chorus, and with two most powerful and one most unpredictable High hunters behind the cause, there was really little any other human could do to protest, as more and more supporters of the three families gave their agreements.

‘Are humans finally going to do something right?’ mocks one of the High vampires, but once again, head of Kisaragis speaks up.

‘Not only humans, darling~ we’re in this boat together, ever since the Great Tragedy.’

‘Only you can be this positive, madam.’ sighs Arihara senior. ‘But, as long as no knowledge is lost, we have no reason to disagree with the decision.’

‘Indeed.’ Tsubaki, until now sitting quietly, speaks up. ‘It will in fact, benefit us all, in that-’

‘I also agree, although I wasn’t called to be the judge of this specific case.’ Shiki speaks up, making sure the „we can see Hajime-sama in action” remains inaudible for anyone not Tsubaki and Shun, who nods his head eagerly at his counterpart’s suggestion. It makes it look like both Tendouin and Shimotsuki heirs were agreeing to what the Composer has said. ‘Takamuras will definitely support the idea of joint, proper investigation, that will take one matter off of our heads. At least I’ll have Tsubasa going to sleep at normal hours again.’

‘Are you really the one to nag about that?’ Tsukino arches his eyebrow, amused, before switching to serious mode, as he notices Shiki’s expression hardening. ‘What it is.’

‘Despair in fire form.’ Shiki growls, eyes glazed over. Those closest to him can see three colors aside of purple swimming in his pupils. ‘They hit Rikka.’

‘Hit?!’ there’s few alerted calls, and Tsukino also tenses. Shiki shakes his head to something going on the other side.

‘Alright.’ he mutters, before fisting his hand, a pale, rosy mark appearing, and disappearing just as soon. ‘It’s fine, they used Solos, and he’ll cauterize it before going back. And if something goes wrong, Dai and Tsubasa have enough power to persuade him to go see the medics.’

‘You have a terrifying Unit, you know it.’ Shun says with no hint of malice, and all curiosity. Shiki humphs, but it’s a pleased sound.

‘I know.’ he looks back at the room. ‘Now, can we hurry up here? I’d like to go where we’re actually having a foe to fight.’

‘R-right.’ stutters one of the lesser vampires, and suddenly, the room quietens, but before Mutsuki senior and representative of vampires are able to proclaim their decisions, somebody speaks up.

‘I’m unsatisfied with the progress of this meeting.’ it’s one of the minor High hunters.

‘What makes you unsatisfied?’ asks senior Mutsuki, but faint crease on his forehead suggests he grew slightly irritated with somebody extending unnecessary meeting.

‘I feel like we’re being set up.’

‘Because you are.’ calmly points out Kouki. ‘Only not by those you think you are-’

‘Then why Izumi's memory has reporting to you in it?’ aggressively asks hunter, and Kouki blinks.

‘Because kidnapped member was a Soul Spirit User?’ he answers, and room ‘oh’s. His father then adds:

‘We keep constant watch over the Groups’ members just in case something like that happens. Especially in case of inborn first generation User like Shinozaki-kun-’

‘Inborn?’

‘A child already born in a Group.’ Kisaragi’s head says. ‘The connection of the head with such life is slightly stronger than with the one who joins consciously, as a compensation for not having a choice like others.’

Kouki nods.

‘Surprisingly, those are also most likely to become Users, out of people beyond our territory.’ he frowns. ‘I’m not sure about vampires, though.’

‘That’s not what we should be worrying about, though.’ Mutsuki senior says, eyes not quite yet glaring at the hunter. ‘Is there anything you have against us clearing the Munakata family of the charges set against them, thus having Tsukino restore Field Support Unit Soara to its previous state, and having us progress the case of investigations together with Field forces? If not, I’d request you keep quiet.’

‘Now, I don’t know about charges, but... is it wise to pass the work onto Tsukino?’ Hozuki says, and the air turns sour. ‘I’ve heard there was... unrest, among their Backstage members, regarding choice of people for the new Shield Unit that was agreed to be resolved by a showdown. Should we be pulling Izumi-san away from his Unit, that apparently is quite inexperienced?’

‘Experience is the last thing they lack, actually. Especially regarding Field and fighting vampires.’ Shu responds dryly. ‘Also, perhaps it’s different for your forces, but I consider it unwise to risk entering Field with people unable to organize their training without my supervision.’

He smiles slightly, though it’s dimmed with exhaustion.

‘Actually, as we speak, they should be entering the power training session.’ he says, then adds. ‘In your position, I’d rather worry about yourself, Hozuki-san.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Ah, right, we can deal with that right now as well, right?’ Tsukino speaks up. ‘Hozuki-san, with the end of this month, we will officially stop using any of your family’s Tunnel infrastructure. My aides should be sending the official papers as we speak. Thank you for accommodating us this long.’

‘W-what is the premise of it?’ Hozuki seems to be shocked, but keeps himself together.

Tsukino smiles wryly.  
  
‘The fact that just getting one of my Field Support members accused unjustly has sent us into a frenzy; I don’t want to deal with the future where one of our Field Battles will be rightfully accused of arson, and I don’t mean anybody related to Okuis.’  
  
Shiki humphs, loudly.  
  
‘At least Rikka wouldn’t.’  
  
‘I know.’ even dryer says Tsukino. ‘And I know I’m right, I see this world in a similar way to you, so. Don’t even try to convince me I’m not right.’  
  
‘I won’t.’ Shiki has the audacity to smirk.  
  
Tsukino turns away from his captain with a sigh, ignoring amused glances of other leaders.  
  
‘As you could hear, it is to avoid damage to both of us.’  
  
Hozuki humphs, although it’s obvious he tries to gamble. With most of more prominent High families having their own Tunnel-oriented forces or Pacts with Backstage-specialized families, independent forces were main source of their income. With Tsukino, the strongest and most active one cutting them off, first from Battle Transportation few weeks ago, and now even out of Supply and messages...  
  
‘Whatever. If you think you can survive without us, and cannot even control your subordinates-’  
  
‘Control?’ Tsukino barks a laugh so violent he bends in half, showing his half a fang to the room. ‘Can you control the volcano eruption, or the flood? Or maybe earthquake, or a typhoon?’  
  
He straightens up.  
  
‘Because that’s the amount of power Composers with their destined Singers at their side have.’  
  
Ren, until now slightly hazy with realization that it was going to end, and that he and his family would be free soon, suddenly feels a shift in the air. That shift alerts not only him, because he can see with the corner of his eyes as Soushi and Mori tense on instinct, and Nozomu shifts closer to him.  
  
‘In that case, they are monsters.’ speaks one of the lesser hunters in the audience.  
  
Ah. That’s why.  
  
‘That’s one way to speak about them.’ Tsukino says, motioning behind himself, where Sora tensed up, and both Shu and Kouki put reassuring hands on his shoulder, while Shiki dropped his smirk to glare at the speaker. ‘The one that made the only human Composer hide from his own kind to the point of self-destruction, until he stumbled into a fellow Composer, that just so happened to be vampire and head of the Group. Seriously, though-’  
  
He leans away on his chair.  
  
‘If you throw that monster, monster thing around, and yet keep going after our power, aren’t you hypocrites?’  
  
‘You’ve barged in yourself!’  
  
‘Today. Provoked by involving one of our Singers into the case that had very little to do with him.’ Tsukino speaks up slowly. ‘However, thirty years ago, somehow nobody called the creators of the Song of Seven „monsters”. Even earlier, the conflict didn’t start until you were sure the Takamuras, the family known for their Composers, didn’t choose the side. The Composers who decided not to be involved in conflict were eliminated, and don’t pretend you didn’t know about Fujimura Massacre; you knew and allowed it, thinking it will be better if your side is the only one having the power of Composer behind yourself. Everybody learns about Waterfall Inferno, but does anybody know it was born out of extreme distress of a Composer creating it?’  
  
Once again, the room is submerged in silence. Tsukino’s voice isn’t loud, but it had a deep tone, making it audible even in the farthest part of the hall, even as he posed the final question.  
  
‘Considering all that and more I didn’t even bring up, don’t you think the real monsters are the so-called „normal” humans and vampires?’  
  
‘That’s... absurd!’ but, the protest carries little power behind itself. Head of Kisaragi giggles suddenly, making all eyes turn to her.  
  
‘Amazing manipulation skills, Tsukino-san, really incredible.’ she says with a nod to the man. ‘While you’re pretending to touch on different matters, it all really boils down to „leave my Composers and Singers alone, and let us do our job” - that’s your real wish, isn’t it?’  
  
‘They’re not that amazing, if I was figured out.’ Tsukino smiles wryly. ‘But, I shouldn’t expect less from a mother of Fluna’s and Gravi’s mood makers.’  
  
‘If I could add something, it would be „help us get rid of the Puppetmasters and Marionettes, so that the music we create is safe”, but I understand this threat is abstract to a lot of people, so let me shorten it to „let us make music”.’ he continues, motioning towards the defendant’s bench. ‘And for music-making, we need our Singers, preferably not guilty.’  
  
Okui senior snorts.  
  
‘Now you’re really playing us like a fiddle.’ he says, but the amount of amusement in his voice softens the words. ‘Didn’t we agreed on it before?’  
  
‘Indeed.’ Mutsuki senior agrees. ‘But it’s true we didn’t ratify it previously.’  
  
He leans over Tsukino, to look at Arihara’s family and other High vampires, and asks:  
  
‘You’re good with that as well?’  
  
‘We were from the start.’ Arihara answers, but Hajime’s father doesn’t take the bait, just hums.  
  
‘Then, without further ado, let’s get over with it.’  
  
*  
  
Ren stares in front of himself, as around him, people and vampires mingle, discuss, protest, defend and laugh.  
  
Sora side-eyes him from Soushi’s headlock.  
  
‘Is Ren ok? It hurts, by the way.’  
  
‘You deserve it. You know how much work went into covering you?’ Soushi asks, but there’s very little fire behind that. ‘And Ren will be fine, he’s just digesting all that happened.’  
  
‘I’ve never seen a person go so still while digesting, though!’ Sora complains, but goes completely slack in Soushi’s grasp. Mori chuckles, coming a bit closer to the childhood friends.  
  
‘Well, it’s a lot to accept at first. Plus, Ren was stressed about this whole situation.’ he says, patting Sora. ‘As were we, when we saw you out yourself, Sora.’  
  
‘I’ve said I’m sorry!’ their leader whines, and Soushi humphs, finally letting him out of headlock. Not letting go of Sora completely, though.  
  
‘It’s alright now.’ Mori officially forgives him. ‘Because you’re alright. Now, we only need to have Ren be alright.’  
  
Ren is vaguely aware of his seniors talking about him, but everything feels muddled. His sensory powers were now working at full force, and that surely added to it, but he just felt... overstimulated all over.  
  
Then, there’s a gentle pat to his head, and the world becomes clearer. He turns.  
  
Shu smiles and takes his hand away from Ren’s hair.  
  
‘One of my Unitmates used to have a similar problem at the beginning, when we only started training.’ he explains. ‘I suspected you might need a bit of help in reigning your talent in, after a long period of having it forcefully blocked. You’re not much older than him.’  
  
‘Thank you.’ Ren nods, but the confusion is still there. It’s probably why he then adds, ‘I’m sorry for your Group member, Izumi-san.’  
  
Shu’s eyes flash with pain, before he slowly shakes his head.  
  
‘We knew the risks, Ari knew them. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and get him back.’ he says, then makes a step, as a hard pat to his back sends him forward.  
  
‘You’re not going to be alone in that.’ Shiki says, coming up behind water Elemental. ‘Since Soara is back in one piece, we can now focus on getting these traffickers out of our hair.’  
  
‘Speaking of Units and pieces, Shiki-san.’ Kouki speaks up, also nearing them. ‘Do Solids need the back-up? Growth should be able to dispatch with you if that’s-’  
  
‘Ah, no.’ Shiki shakes his head, baffling anyone within earshot. ‘They should be-’  
  
‘Ya-hoo! Darling, we’re back! Did you clean up the mess inside?’  
  
‘-back any moment.’ Shiki finishes, before turning in the direction of entering trio that caused the crowd to split naturally around them. Well, considering the soot they were covered in, it was quite natural. ‘Tsubasa, Dai, Rikka. Good job.’  
  
‘You too.’ taller Hunter nods back, and Shiki turns to his Changer.  
  
‘Rikka-’  
  
‘It is only a scratch!’ Rikka argues, and somehow, everybody gets a feeling he and Shiki have been mentally going at it for quite a while. ‘I cauterized it before it could get deeper into the skin, so once it heals, it shouldn’t even leave a scar.’  
  
‘Hmm.’ Shiki looks at him unconvinced, and Rikka sighs, before rolling down the charred piece of material on his elbow, revealing quite literally raw skin.  
  
Shiki ignores gasps around them, as he trails his fingers just above the wound, before nodding pleased. Tsubasa, observing it, hums.  
  
‘You know I wouldn’t drag Rikka here if I sensed even speck of Despair on him, right?’  
  
‘Better safe than sorry, Honey.’ Shiki says, letting go of Rikka’s elbow. ‘Shu-’  
  
‘On it.’ Shu’s hand glides above Rikka’s wound and sheen of water instantly covers the raw skin. ‘You should get it treated properly anyway, just in case. Even if you won’t have a trace of it tomorrow.’  
  
‘That much for advantages of being a vampire.’ dryly remarks Rikka, but he still thanks Shu. ‘Then, did you manage to clear up the misunderstanding here?’  
  
‘Not quite completely.’ says a new voice, and all of them turn in its direction. General Tsukino nods at the returned Unit, before continuing his thought. ‘We still have to figure out that trafficking case.’  
  
‘Figures.’ Tsubasa says, before turning to Shu, Kouki and Mori. ‘You up for another few weeks of all-nighters?’  
  
‘No, this time we all are going to take part in the research.’ Tsukino corrects him, and Tsubasa turns slightly surprised eyes at him. General sighs. ‘Not instantly. There’s that other matter Shield needs to settle before becoming cadets, and I believe Munakata-kun would like some time to spend with his family without prying eyes following his every step.’  
  
He turns to the youngest vampire in a group, and smiles slightly.  
  
‘I want to see you in three days from now back in the dorms, but until then, you are free.’  
  
‘T-Thank you, sir.’ Ren is still hazy with everything that happened, and Tsukino frowns slightly, but moves on.  
  
‘We will have the general meeting next week, to agree on single plan of action, all teams are supposed to be present.’ he throws one look at Rikka’s arm in water bandage. ‘Preferably in one piece.’  
  
‘Ye-es.’ Rikka sing-songs.  
  
‘Until then, I want all the data you’ve gathered in your investigations to be compiled and submitted to me, as well as sent to all the leaders. Finally, are you alright? Munataka-kun?’  
  
‘Huh? Yes...’ but, Ren’s voice wasn’t quite convincing. Sora squints at his Singer for a moment, before seemingly coming to some conclusion.  
  
‘Nozomu!’ he calls out, and their youngest member, until now loitering near his big brother, trusting them to manage the hard stuff - jerk - jogs up to them. ‘The thing you held off from! You can do it now!’  
  
‘Ah.’ exclamation of both Soushi and Mori remains unnoticed as Nozomu’s eyes start to shine and he exclaims excited:  
  
‘Really?’ then, before anybody is capable to answer him, he barges into Ren. ‘Ren-kuun~’  
  
‘Nozongh-!’  
  
‘A kiss to wake up a prince.’ grins Sora, while his own boyfriends sweatdrop next to him. Tsukino just sighs.  
  
‘N-N-Nozomu!! Not in public!’  
  
Well, at least it seemed to work?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure how much to include into this one, since there's actually very little action in this one, and I wanted it to be possibly short, so as not to bore you out of your minds with old men talking, and not so old men debunking what old men have said... (and this back and forth ended un being 9k... seriously)  
> Unfortunately, there will be no break from talking, as next chapter, we will see the Tsukino creating their tactics, but... with all Units together, finally! (provided I manage to finally wrap up Because you are, but...we're close to the finish over there, as well.)  
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Hikari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was like. Half a step from naming this chapter "Seafloor", because the pace plot progresses at is somewhat reminding me of a human trying to move in water, lol. I'm so sorry.  
> It ended up being light, because they saw light at the end of the tunnel, and also, because Hikari is a song from the first Quell album and this is first Quell appearance in flesh in Dreamers.  
> Also, happy Twins' Day! I hope I'll manage to write something else for it, but just in case xD

The room is as cluttered with various seats as it was the last time general meeting of all Field forces took place, only this time, tables got added to the mess. The room fills up slowly, but suredly, and soon, Tsukino Field forces all sit, sprawl, curl on one or the other seating elements in the room. A fair number of them is focused on observing a pair of twins who seem to review something with a vampire to their left, with a tall guy looking fondly from the right.

In short, Quell was stealing the spotlight.

Tsubasa looks down at the documents in his lap. He really hoped he will make it on time, before all those old men catch the wind of the talent Shu unconsciously discovered. He really didn’t want to see this little family broken apart by politics...

Though he honestly wonders if those were his feelings or the guy calling himself Shu’s big brother figure.

‘Are you, by any chance, thinking of me?’ asks the voice next to him, and Tsubasa scowls.

‘You wish.’

‘Not really, but I have this thing I want you to look at.’ Shiki completely ignores his answer, shoving few papers under his nose. ‘They definitely won’t make you as troubled as those things on your knees.’

Tsubasa throws a cautious look his way, but Shiki just huffs.

‘You’ll manage just fine, no idea what it is that you work on, though.’ he says, and Tsubasa snorts. ‘But, I know your skills better than anybody here, so.’

‘That’s mean, Shiki.’ says another voice, and Tsubasa leans away to look at Rikka, smiling at him from above. ‘We’re here as well.’

‘Oh, welcome back. Everything okay at the barrier?’ Shiki asks, even as he briefly squeezes Dai’s hand, that landed on his shoulder.

‘There were many more tries to break through, but most with just brute force, so I wouldn’t worry with that for now.’ Rikka answers, letting go of Tsubasa to briefly greet his Changer in the same manner tall hunter did. ‘What about your side?’

‘Annoyed Highs on both sides. Nothing out of ordinary, so.’ Tsubasa says, leaning against Dai, who sat down next to him, and looking at the page Shiki threw at him. ‘If you meant Field, we’re still gathering. Darling, is that...’

‘I think this one has Rikka as a Muse, but since the Singer is who it is, I want your confirmation.’ Shiki says, and Tsubasa hums for a long while, looking between the sheet and his Composer.

‘You want to pack more punch to your lines, or Dai will eat you alive.’ finally, Tsubasa gives his judgement, causing his childhood friend to choke.

‘M-Me?!’ he utters astonished, once he regains his breath. ‘But...’

‘Shiki finished Black Heaven few weeks ago - though, we didn’t have opportunity to try it out just yet with all the mess in the shelters...’ Rikka says, absentmindedly patting both Shiki and Tsubasa, who lean into his touch. ‘So I expected he would be wrapping up the other rotation with duet with that setup, but...it really is quicker than I expected.’

He looks down at two Highs.

‘Is there a reason?’

‘You’re the Muse.’ Tsubasa repeats, practically confirming Shiki’s previous suspicions. ‘And I suspect Darling just went with his and Dai’s common opinions of you.’

Rikka blinks.

‘Opinions?’

Tsubasa unashamedly starts counting out.

‘Hot, considerate, kind, pretty, powerful, slightly mothering, but also great cook, sexy-’

‘Oi, Tsubasa!’ Dai utters, hand on his face, eyes not meeting Rikka’s. Vampire feels Tsubasa has hit at least few points correctly.

‘Sorry to interrupt, but-’ there’s a voice speaking to their side, and upon turning in that direction, Solids is met with an identical pair of blue eyes, one staring in curiosity, the other with slight exasperation. ‘-what the heck is this relationship?’

‘Ichiru...’ Issei scolds lightly, but is drowned in Dai’s deep groan.

‘Not this again.’ he and Rikka chorus that, before vampire moves to rapidly cover mouths of Highs sitting in front of him.

‘Ask Shu and Eichi after you get slightly older, alright?’ he says, quite visibly muffling some kind of protest from Tsubasa. Dai nods seriously.

‘That, exactly.’

‘Dai-san, no fair! We’re just four years younger-’

‘Which still makes you the youngest in this room.’ Shu intercepts, exchanging nods with Rikka. Shiki rolls his eyes at him, and Ichiru scowls. 'Which also means you probably should watch how you phrase your questions, Ichiru. This one was pretty insensitive.’

‘...sorry.’ Ichiru mumbles, pouting. Issei leans on him slightly.

‘I’ll remember to ask it later.’ he whispers to his brother, and Ichiru grins at him, while Rikka sweatdrops. If there was one thing Eichi couldn’t stop gushing about during their meets, it was Issei’s memory...

‘Before judging others, check relationships in your own Unit, kiddo!’ Tsubasa somehow releases himself from Rikka’s gag. Ichiru blinks at him, Eichi flails.

‘Tsubasa-kun, we’re not going into that territory just yet, alright!’

‘You’re just confirmed you are on _some_ territory...’ Tsubasa starts, then drifts off as he catches Rikka’s stare. ‘Whoops.’

‘Well, I’m also quite interested in this development, though...’ Shiki starts, with a small smirk directed at Shu. Who stares back at him patiently, as Rikka just sighs - very loudly - above the two Highs.

‘I just can’t with you...’ he says exasperatedly. ‘Are you high-schoolers or what?’

‘Ah, Rikka-san, technically speaking, we are still...’ Kouki, until now observing the exchange from the sidelines with quite baffled rest of the room, raises his hand, and Rikka sighs.

‘My apologies.’ he turns back to his teammates. ‘Can’t you at least behave like high-schoolers?’

‘You really don’t want that!’ warns Soushi and Mori at the same time, prompting a snort from Ryota and Kensuke, and a whine from Sora.

Ichiru looks around the room confused, before turning to Issei.

‘What is this about Shu and Eichi?’ he asks, prompting a strangled sound from said human, already gaining in color. Issei smiles.

‘Will tell you after a meeting. Look, the General is in the room.’

It was true, and all of them rose to greet the man who had a conflicted expression on his face, a mix of amusement and exasperation, Shu notes. Well, notes with that part of the brain not analyzing whether Issei had a chance to catch them on the sofa in the common room that one morning, when Eichi insisted on getting Shu to rest, and „resting” evolved into a full-blown cuddling session at one point. He hopes not, they split as soon as they caught the sound of sleepy footsteps nearing them...

‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ General starts. ‘I’m glad you’re in good moods, but unfortunately, the matter we’re going to be discussing is going to ruin that. Sit down.’

They do as asked, mood turning solemn.

‘Before I ruin your moods completely, a speck of good news, though.’ Tsukino says, looking around the room. ‘Fluna and Seleas are officially at seventy percent recovered. Altair provided data just this morning.’

He smiles in the direction of ladies.

‘We knew Yuki and Yuno, and then Ai and Tsubaki had their recoveries near finished last month. With last report, I received news that Chisa, Wakaba, and Akane and Mizuki joined the ranks of nearly recovered.’

‘That means...’ Kakeru starts.

‘Both teams need just two more members states to return to normal to make full recovery!’ Koi finishes, jumping at his twin. ‘You did it, Ai.’

‘Brother, I was in the first batch.’ Ai chuckles sheepishly. ‘The others who made this progress are much more amazing than me.’

‘Especially since all members we have yet to consider „recovered” are almost there.’ Matsuri says, looking at her chart. Kurisu humphs.

‘With this kind of progress, we’ll be back in a week.’

‘I hope...’ Hina says quietly. Her Unit partner just loops her arm around other vampire.

‘We will get there.’ she says decisively. ‘I’m telling you.’

‘Kurisu’s calculation rarely ever are wrong, and never by much, so, you don’t have to stress, Hina.’ Yuki offers to her teammate. ‘Let’s focus on getting back to the Field in perfect condition, rather than getting there as quick as possible, but with flaws.’

‘As always, Highs motivational speeches are on a different level~’

‘Tsubasa, you’re a High as well.’ Dai deadpans, and Rikka chuckles.

Tsukino clears his throat.

‘We also have a new Unit among us, although I know quite a lot of you have already met them. Quell?’

‘Icchi, Isse.’ Eichi whispers, and all four of them stand up and bow.

‘While we’re currently placing them in cadets’ positions, I don’t think they will have the luxury to stay out of these matters for much longer. Plus, I decided it will be a good opportunity to have everyone get to know them before you will have to entrust your backs to each other.’ Tsukino says as Quell sits down. He can catch few curious, but mostly friendly stares, a lot of them directed at Issei and Ichiru.

‘From the good news, that would be it.’ he says, and the room quieten as one. ‘Now, for the second big issue we’ve gathered here to discuss - leaders, did you pass the brief to you teammates?’

At multiple nods from the room, Tsukino sighs.

‘Then let’s only look through it briefly and sum up developments we’ve got since last update of those.’ he motions at vampire behind himself. ‘Tsukishiro, the floor’s yours.’

‘Understood, sir.’ pale vampire steps up from his place behind Tsukino, and looks at the file in his hand, as General sits down. ‘As of today, we’re dealing with the case of twenty-two kidnappings of children between ages six and sixteen. Their race, with no exceptions, was human; there were eighteen cases for boys, only four for girls. No physical characteristics were common for all children, beyond age range.’

Here, vampire hesitates.

‘However, all children were mentioned to have slightly more developed energy cores than most of society. Usually not enough to cause change in daily life, and - with exception of the teenagers that volunteered to become decoys from the forces of Groups and High families and clans - none were expected to train in using that inner energy in any way whatsoever.’

He turns page in tense silence.

‘All decoys were from the Backstage forces. According to trackers, all of them were taken out of the shelter’s borders, and taken in a closely undisclosed direction.’ vampire looks up quickly at Shu. ‘We know they are still alive thanks to connection of one of them to his head.’

Shu nods.

‘Due to various testing that were made in the time period between sixteenth and twenty second case, we know kidnappers posses keen instinct preventing them from mistakenly taking vampire, even within the age limit.’ There was slight pause, as Tsukishiro swallowed. ‘There’s high possibility those kidnappings have some connection to the current Field situation, with all kidnappings happening shortly after appearance of a Puppetmaster or larger group of Marionettes.’

Room descend into deadly silence.

‘Any possible objective?’ Hajime finally breaks it, but Tsukishiro shakes his head.

‘There’s simply too many possibilities, with us not knowing who stands behind the kidnappings.’

‘Sounds like vampires’ doing though.’ dryly points out Shiki. ‘Although that might be a disguise as well.’

‘Right.’ Kanade looks at the bottom of the page. ‘Our current assumption is that it’s either a mixed race party or vampires. Regardless of which prove true, involvement of High family or clan, eventually its’ branch, is almost a given.’

‘Just for the record.’ Haru slowly raises his hand. ‘While I cannot spy too openly as somebody involved with Tsukino, my sisters managed to gather few takes from other High families from the Loser group.’

Ren blinks.

‘Loser group?’

‘It’s about the human-vampire war, Ren. The one that happened before Great Tragedy.’ Morihito explains, and Haru nods. ‘Some High clans and families who supported Wanderers surrendered after final battle and accepted conditions given by the winners. Some of them regained their High status quickly enough for the fact they once fought against that order and lost to be practically forgotten.’

‘Among them Yayois and Ariharas.’ Haru fills in, and Mori smiles forcedly. ‘It’s amazing what back up a fair amount of knowledge can provide.’

‘Or high quality research facilities.’ Mori quietly adds, and Haru nods in agreement. ‘Haru-san, were there...’

‘I don’t want to throw names around in case we’re going in completely wrong direction, but.’ Hajime’s second-in-command corrects his glasses. ‘There is the regular group of names that are known for disagreeing with equal racial treatment. Some of them seem to take satisfaction from the investigations ending in dead ends.’

He hesitates.

‘Iriharas among them.’

Mori sighs.

‘Of course they would.’ he says with forced ease. ‘And that would put Ariharas in a possible spectre of suspects as well, since we're related.’

‘I’m not telling this in personal-’ starts Haru quickly, and Mori just as quickly shakes his head.

‘No, I didn’t take it that way, please don’t mind.’ he says quickly. ‘However, I did suspect something like that, so during investigation before Ren’s hearing I increased my own supervision over my family’s actions.’

He sighs.

‘I can’t say nothing could’ve slipped past me, but for better or worse, our family and their branches didn’t seem too interested in the kidnapping cases.’ he says slowly. Haru nods.

‘Is that so.’ he says. ‘Then, I’ll just hope it was Irihara’s natural dislike for the society we live in speaking.’

‘No, if they are suspicious...’ Mori hesitates, looking at Sora unconsciously. ‘We do have history of human experimentation-’

‘Nothing proved to the public, though, and I think we agreed it will be for the best.’ Soushi interrupts him dryly, before Mori can expose anything more. ‘Though your knowledge of scope of interests of mad scientists might prove useful.’

Mori snorts softly.

‘Right.’ he hums slowly. ‘There’s no experimentation I can think of the top of my head that would require human children exclusively.’

‘And-’

‘Those requiring children of both races are usually conducted in collaboration and supervision of the Groups.’ he fills in, before Yuki can finish her question, and Fluna leader nods.

‘But...’ Kurisu starts slowly. ‘If there’s involvement of the Marionettes...’

‘Then the scope of research wouldn’t be just our races.’ Matsuri adds with dawning realization, and her rival nods. ‘It would be a relation between those and Marionettes. And since we know Marionettes were once living vampires and humans...’

‘That’s thinking too far ahead of ourselves.’ Shu says, but there’s tension in his voice. ‘The change into Marionette is a matter of minutes, hours, if a person has a strong will and core. It takes less than Change into vampire, and this one was considered quick.’

He exhales.

‘Most importantly, it severs all connections an individual had with living people. Music, pacts... Group bonds, everything.’

Rikka ponders on standing up and moving towards younger vampire in support, but-

Eichi mutely reaches above twins and puts hand on Shu’s shoulder, then squeezes. Shu startles, and looks to his side, before nodding at Eichi’s gentle smile, fingers briefly brushing human's hand, and Rikka settles down.

Shu was going to be okay now.

‘Taking into consideration I still feel Ari, I’d say if that was the reason for those kidnappings, it has yet to start.’

‘Or maybe kidnappers are outsourcing group to another facility that has yet to receive the children... or, those children Ari is with.’ Haru says slowly. ‘It’s possible.’

He scowls.

‘Like everything we’ve said until now.’

Everybody groan.

‘Kanade.’ General speaks up. ‘Any other info we should know about?’

Vampire looks through his notes.

‘Yayoi-san has mentioned possible involvement of the Highs from the Loser group.’ he says. ‘We’ve also managed to put together signal map out of the tracking glyphs and devices decoys had on themselves during abduction.’

He moves forward, and puts a stone on the table in the middle of the room. It starts shining, and moments later, map of the shelter shines in front of everyone.

‘Awesome...’ whispers Ichiru, and Issei nods, eyes shining. Eichi and Shu exchange glances.

 _Precious_.

‘The signals from both glyphs and devices started distorting around five hundred metres from the shelter walls.’ Tsukishiro continues his explanations, while inputting data. ‘They cut off completely some two kilometres from the shelter, it’s possible that there’s either barrier in the way, or just natural pollution of the Field working to kidnappers’ advantage.’

‘We cannot have anything for sure, can we.’ grits out Kurisu, jotting something down. Matsuri mutters something next to her, doing exact same thing.

‘If our theory about a barrier is true, it would look like this.’ Tsukishiro taps the map, and pale crescent appears north from the Shelter. ‘However, scouts sent in that direction didn’t discover anything of sorts.’

Group groan of disappointment.

‘We pinpointed hunting grounds of kidnappers within the shelters.’ Tsukishiro continues, and four districts have their roads light up in red. ‘Their escape routes are a bit harder to trace, we’ve had only three traces, after all, and ironically, as they appeared one after another, each led from a different region.’

He paints uneven line of blue dots from one red region each.

‘However, from that, we know they work in a rotational pattern. There are no two kidnappings in the same region in row. Unless the abducted children were together; usually, it was a pair, friends or siblings.’ Tsukishiro points to lowermost region. ‘From that, we knew the last decoy had to be laid out in this region and it was actually proven true. With it, we know this region is safe, at least until another kidnapping, and the region clockwise next to it is at a highest risk of having a child abducted.’

Vampire finishes, looking away from the papers.

‘That is what we’ve managed to figure out until now.’ he says. ‘We haven’t managed to get information from decoys outside of the shelter, so we cannot estimate anything regarding outer camp, there are also no traces of the base within the shelter... although, considering the movement that happens within city during sending of a Battle Unit to the Field, it’s not impossible we just missed suspicious movements and the inner base is changing places.’

‘So, in short, we have children - human children - trafficking circle to deal with on the inside of shelters in addition to the biological threat that keeps pushing from the outside, know very little about either, and the best part, both of those might be connected. Any other - preferably good - news? None?’ sarcastically sums up Ryota, crossing his arms.

‘We were told no more good news will come, Ryo.’ Ken points out and Ryota huffs angrily. Kensuke ignores it, he knows it’s his friend’s instinctive reaction to helplessness. ‘I would prefer good ideas for moving out of the dead end we’re in right now.’

Nobody answers him, until...

‘Ah.’

‘Issei?’ Ichiru looks at his older brother, who looks away from the map to meet his eyes, before saying slowly.

‘ _We_ are in victim’s range.’ Ichiru blinks, but his eyes gleam.

‘And since we know the standard work pattern of the passers...’ he continues. Issei nods.

‘Not enough to intercept-’ starts Kai, and older twin nods again.

‘-and not enough to crack the group from the outside, since no info came back from outside camp - if such exist. But, if somebody this time gets inside-’

‘-and manages to give a signal-’ fills in the younger twin, and Tsubasa’s eyes shine in understanding.

‘-and possibly manages to gather info-’

‘It’s dangerous.’ Rikka, Eichi, Akane and Kai chorus like one, and twins cut off their thought.

‘None of the previous decoys came back.’ Eichi starts, but Kouki slowly speaks up in counter.

‘Because they were parts of Support Units, and not even the Field ones.’

‘Somebody with any more fighting training than the Support will get blasted, though-’

‘We have even less than that, so that’s not a problem.’ Ichiru counters reluctantly, pointedly looking away from smirking Tsubasa.

‘They might- no, scratch that, they will definitely knock you out on the way, and you’ll get exposed and cut off like-’ starts Mori, but Shun shots it down, Kai’s visible frown ignored.

‘There’s no need for tracking their way to the camp, as long as they manage to give us the position of where the children are held at. There are ways to cloak their power to look smaller, too, and even if we don’t cloak them, provided the kidnappers are vampires, their status as Rare Prey will only make them all the more alluring.’

The second Rare Prey is mentioned, twins flinch, Eichi shifts, and Shu tenses on instinct, even as Iku asks confused.

‘Rare Prey?’

‘Iku, so pure as always.’ Shun smiles, before explaining. ‘There is a certain type of people possessing qualities that make them incredibly tempting to vampires. Technically, it’s their blood, able to strengthen the vampire feeding on it, but it usually includes some kind of power, or perhaps should I say, a talent? that normal people don’t possess, too.’

‘Like Dai.’ Rui speaks up softly, but avoids looking at anything not his hands. Named hunter looks at him, considering for a while, before nodding.

‘I have high regenerative abilities, both on physical and energy level, that stem from it. There was a suspicion that’s also why I’m compatible with Tsubasa’s flame, even though there’s not even a drop of Okui blood in me, but,’ he snorts, ‘I suspect it’s just because most people can’t stand his attitude.’

‘Dai-chan, rude!’

‘That’s the truth. Also, don’t call me Dai-chan.’

‘Reliable reply as always.’ Rikka smiles at his teammates, then his eyes look over to Quell. ‘The status is felt first and foremost by High vampires. It seems Changers feel it as an urge to protect-’

‘No, that’s just you being your nice self, Rikka.’ Tsubasa interrupts with a grin. ‘You sense that they will be in trouble and so, your motherhen kicks in. Eichi does the same thing.’

‘Mother...’Starts Rikka

‘...Hen?’ finishes Eichi. Shu and Shiki nod as one.

‘So that’s what the Kugas are? Rare Prey?’ Nozomu asks, confused.

‘No.’ Shu speaks on autopilot, then explains himself. ‘They indeed are special, but if anyone tries to hunt them...’

He trails off, fully aware he came across much more forcefully than usual. Still.

Nobody hunts his Singers.

‘I feel like on top of mother hen, Quell also has a papa wolf.’ Tsubasa says with contemplation, but Issei’s quiet voice interrupts further banter.

‘Shu’s protective because our first meeting was like that.’

‘He tried to hunt you?’ Shun asks curiously.

‘Hah?!’ Ichiru exclaims and Issei shakes his head rapidly.

‘Shun-san, it’s not a joke.’ Koi speaks up quietly, looking at the other pair of twins. ‘Rare Prey is a problem even for people with Group protections, I don’t think...’

He cuts himself off, like rest of the room focusing on Quell’s youngest members.

Despite their voices not shaking previously, twins sat curled into each other, Ichiru’s arm over Issei’s shoulders. Older twin had his eyes closed and it was visible he was using some kind of breathing exercise. The air in the room turned slightly humid.

‘Issei...?’ Eichi stops his inquiry after Shu gestures to him. Few seconds pass, before Issei gathers himself and simultaneously, the room returns to normal.

‘I’m... sorry. I just don’t like this term.’ he weakly excuses himself. ‘We’ve been called that since we were seven.’

‘I feel you.’ Dai leans away with a sigh, and twins look up at him. He gestures to Rui. ‘That’s the only Minazuki that never called me it, before _or_ after Tsubasa ruined that family’s reputation.’

Rui ducks his head.

‘They deserved it.’ he mutters softly, twisting his fingers. Iku reaches out and catches his hands, twining them together. When Rui looks at him, he just smiles. Seconds later Kai’s hand ruffles Rui’s hair.

‘That’s our Rui.’

‘Kai...’

‘Aversion to the name aside, the special qualities we were talking about? Are they in any way catalogued?’ asks one of the girls, and twins look at Shu for answer.

‘If you’re asking if they’re in any way similar to Dai, then no, neither of them have outstanding regeneration alone.’ Shu answers. ‘But that’s not a problem, if they are together.’

‘Ah, but that’s just normal twin thing.’ Koi and Ai say at the same time, and everybody in the room sweatdrop.

‘”Normal” you say...’

‘Twins' resonance.’ Ai explains to Kurisu - visibly shaking from the influx of new information - as well as rest of the room. ‘It’s one of the effects of active usage of twins’ connection... yes, let’s call it just that for now, it’s really hard to explain it otherwise. We can share and amplify each others’ energy, with high level of attunement up to infinity.’

‘”High” meaning?’ tries to clarify Yuki, and Ai hesitates, before turning to the Kuga twins.

‘I’m sorry to impose, but would you mind telling us-’

‘Have you ever been apart for longer than, like, an hour?’ Koi cuts into his sister’s long introduction. Quell twins tilt their heads.

‘Not really.’ admits Issei slowly. Mamoru blinks in surprise.

‘What about sleep?’

‘What about it?’ Ichiru asks confused. Eichi smiles.

‘They usually fall asleep together~’

‘Don’t say that with this kind of expression on! Eichi!’ Ichiru complains loudly, faint blush on his face. Koi dissolves the tension by clapping his hands.

‘And that means your attunement to each other should be around infinite by now, after what, fourteen years of being together? Definitely higher than ours, though I’m bitter to say this- yeah, as if I could be bitter! I'm chocolatey sweet!’

‘Brother...’ Ai sweatdrops, but her brother’s partner doesn’t have her restraints on calling out his pun.

‘That was lame as all heck, Koi.’ Kakeru announces, making the room collectively snicker.

‘Attunement... that thing that makes me aware when Issei’s about to run out of gas?’

‘Yes, it’s this.’ Dai nods. ‘With time, it develops between any connected elemental users, though I don’t recommend getting attached to an Okui.’

‘Dai-chan, cruel!’

‘Don’t call me that.’

‘For twins, it brings a bit more than just sense of awareness about the others’ state, though.’ Ai says slowly. ‘It’s hard to explain- I think it would be what Changer and Changed are like, when not restrained by anything? That's the closest comparision I can find.’

Rikka ‘ah’s.

‘Complete freedom of connecting with other's mind and power?’

‘Yes, that!’ Ai says excited before blinking. ‘um-?’

‘Shiki did exactly nothing the correct way, when Changing me, starting with being too young to actually be able to Change in the first place.’ Rikka explains with a smile. ‘I think that’s what they call „wild” Change. You know, he wasn't even thirty at the time.’

Silence follows his explanation, until Kai doesn't raise his hand.

‘Um, is there something else absolutely exceptional about SQ or Alive that we should know about, before we move back to the topic of trafficking?’ he asks, looking at the mentioned groups. ‘We have technically a vampire demon in our Unit, so I promise there’s nothing we won’t be able to believe in.’

Kouki shakes his head in the following atmosphere of slight bafflement mixed with confusion.

‘I think General has any irregular data on Growth, but once we figure out what Mamoru is, it might change.’

‘You mean you don’t-’

‘He means Mamoru’s Soul Spirit.’ Ken explains. ‘It’s unregistered Legendary, at least unregistered among those few vampire Bestiares we know of.’

He grins.

‘We know he’s smitten for Kouki’s Aesodius, so we’re sure it won’t cause too much problems. Not only Spirit is smitten though...’

Mamoru whines, face faintly pink, and Ryota snickers.

‘Our biggest exceptional quality is the fact that we somehow survive with Sora being the leader, but you know about that, so.’ Soushi shrugs, his leader puffing cheeks in a pout.

‘Okay, so that’s it for Alive, I hope, and SQ?’ Kai asks, noticing how Hajime seems to be massaging his temples.

Shiki raises his hand.

‘Here, we somehow didn’t commit group murder on Tsubasa yet, and I have absolutely no idea how that’s possible.’

‘What the heck, Darling!’

‘Now, now.’ Rikka moves his chair to sit between Shiki and Tsubasa. ‘We don’t want that one to change, so play nice, both of you.’

‘Are they always like that?’ Arata asks curiously, and Dai groans as a whole answer. Gravi’s hunter considers him for a moment, before passing another carton of strawberry milk the other man’s way. ‘Condolences.’

Dai accepts both milk and words.

‘I think that is all?’ General finally asks the room as a whole, and forty something people quieten, before a hand reluctantly raises itself from the direction of Quell.

‘One more, right.’ General sighs, nodding at the twin which raised his hand. He takes a deep breath.

‘I’m a-’ he stops, as if choked. Then tries again. ‘I’m... water...’

He frowns and looks down.

‘It’s hard to say after this long of being told to be quiet and secretive about it.’

‘It’s okay, Issei.’ Shu puts hand on his younger teammate’s shoulder. ‘I’m partly to blame for that, too. Sorry.’

Issei quickly shakes his head, but Kai asks.

‘It’s that big?’

‘Considering pasts of people in this room, not really.’ Shiki states matter-of-factly - Solids and Quell were close, so nobody even questioned other Unit’s leader speaking up. Then, he looks at Quell’s twins. ‘But personally, it might be the biggest secret in their lives. No wonder it’s kind of hard to trust this many people with it at once.’

‘Well, we trusted Tsubasa, I guess there’s no way anybody in here’s worse than that.’ Ichiru says, scanning faces around the room. He stops at Shun. ‘Maybe except for him.’

‘Icchi.’ Eichi gasps.

‘Oi brat!’ Tsubasa calls indignantly while rest of Solids just snort, too used to the antics between the two. Procellarum joins them, Yoru and Iku trying to dimnish their reactions, while Kai and Hajime just chuckle at the baffled expression Shun is showing.

‘You’ve been seen.’ Kai snickers at his leader. Shun pouts back.

‘Now, I can’t say you’re wrong, but this guy here isn’t really that bad.’ Hajime speaks up, prompting Shun to perk up instantly. ‘He doesn’t do things out of malice, so I’d say your secret would be safe with him... more or less.’

‘That last part is definitely not reassuring.’ Iku sweatdrops. Rui nods next to him.

‘But it’s kind of true.’

‘Can’t say anything to it.’

‘Even my children!’ Shun calls dramatically, prompting Kugas to exchange look before turning to Eichi. Who raises his hands in a gesture probably meaning „I’m not that bad”.

‘Don’t look at me, hey.’

Shu smiles, then looks down, as Issei pulls at his sleeve lightly.

‘If I stop again, help me finish?’ he requests, and Shu carefully pats the boy next to himself.

‘Of course.’

Issei catches his hand and pulls it away from his hair, but then clutches it in one hand, while Ichiru’s sneaks into his other palm. Shu squeezes reassuringly, seeing as Eichi reaches behind Ichiru to put hand on older twin's shoulder in mute support.

‘Ready to try again?’ General Tsukino asks, not trying to push, just prompting, making the room quieten, so that Issei won’t have to speak louder than it’s comfortable for him.

Older twin nods. Takes a deep breath like before, and holds it for a few moments, before speaking on an exhale.

‘I’m a water Elemental.’

Room exhales with him.

‘Finally, normal insanity.’ Haru speaks up happily, before making a double take. ‘What?!’

Issei repeats, words flowing much easier, as if the first attempt unclogged his throat.

‘And I’m his power bank. Or, something similar.’ Ichiru adds, squeezing his brother’s hand.

The room stares at the twins for umpteenth time this meeting, before looking at Shu.

‘They do mean Elemental, not user.’ Shu clarifies before Wakaba or Mizuki can even open their mouths. ‘Though we have no idea how’s that possible. It tangles with why they were called by vampires what they were called since being seven. Ichiru’s high energy core probably stems from the need to protect Issei by overshadowing his status with sheer power.’

‘Any relation- no that’s stupid question, sorry.’ Tsubasa instantly backs away, but Shu shakes his head.

‘We did all the testing available just after our acceptance as cadets.’ Eichi says, his arm now wrapped around Ichiru’s shoulders in a comforting manner. ‘No traces of vampire DNA or otherwise any relation to vampires in at least three generations. They’re hundred percent human.’

‘There’s a theory that a Rare- that our status is a result of some kind of mutation.’ Dai speaks up. Issei raises his head.

‘No need to avoid the name. We... I need to get used to it, if we will go.’ he says, note of determination in his voice. There’s moment of silence before.

‘Then, we will make it less scary. Rare Prey-chan.’ Koi says, and Kakeru instantly adds.

‘Rare Prey-sama.’ the two grin, then look expectantly at Procella’s youngest pair. Iku stares back, unimpressed, but Rui adds.

‘RP.’

‘Rui?!’

‘It can be changed to Royal Person like that.’ vampire softly explains himself. Iku blinks. Dai also blinks.

‘That’s...’

‘Actually nice.’ Kai says, eyeing Quell. Twins smile faintly. ‘I’m still against you two going as the decoys though, Ra- RPs or not.’

‘Right now it’s the only course of action I can think of that will push the situation forward, though.’ Tsubasa says slowly. ‘Though I’m honestly frustrated to admit that. Least time-consuming, too, which is kind of important, since I doubt we are given unlimited time to solve this riddle of a case. Each week, a kid disappears, after all.’

There’s a number of voices agreeing with him, but also few voices still against the idea. The gathering suddenly erupts into discussion.

Issei looks around the room. General Tsukino was letting all of them speak up, listening to both sides equally, and despite how heated the debate got, he could never sense even a flicker of aggression, only worry, frustration, reluctance and determination...

‘You will be alone for the most part.’ Shu speaks up, but there’s real concern, quieting all other voices, as hunters and vampires both drop their dispute to let the Unit’s Leader and their Composer speak up.

At least four of the people in the room understood what Issei and Ichiru going as the decoys meant for Shu, even better than Issei and Ichiru did, older twin realizes with a start. He suddenly regretted not asking what Shu really thought about that idea earlier...

‘We will have no way of helping you before you decide to send the signal, even with the trackers on, and after we enter the camp, they will most likely realize you two are inbetween their victims. If they decide to make sure no info you got will leak out, they will turn violent no doubt. You might end up having to get away from them on your own.’

Issei blinks.

‘Shu.’

Their leader wasn’t concerned about success of the plan, contrary to most people in the room - he was concerned _for them_.

Why was this such a... surprising realization? They knew this vampire for long enough to know how kind he could be. But... that warmth clogging up his throat was strange, but felt nice. Unusual, but nice.

‘It’s okay, Shu.’ Ichiru speaks up first.‘We’re used to taking care of ourselves.’

‘It’s actually more unusual for us to have others to lean on like now, you know.’ Issei fills in, not really understanding when Shu’s eyes darken with sadness. ‘Shu-?’

They’re tackled from behind, and judging from the power of the hug that holds them...

‘Eichi?’

‘Don’t say such a thing with a straight face!’ Eichi’s voice don’t hold anger, it holds desperate need to comfort.

‘I agree with Eichi. You can depend on us a bit more, okay?’ Shu says, leaning just a bit closer towards them. Issei feels comforting sensation of much bigger, _stronger_ presence of an Elemental enveloping him, readily offering protection, a place to be hidden, safe and sound.

‘That’s counterproductive to the mission we’re discussing right now, though!’ Ichiru protests from beside him, but Issei can hear the warmth he himself feels in his brother’s voice. ‘Be sappy after we come back, will you?’

Shu inhales, then exhales loudly. His presence doesn’t waver, but his eyes are strangely determined.

‘Alright, then, I agree on that condition, you're coming back. And after it, you get anything you wish. What will you want?’

‘There he goes again.’ Shiki mutters under his breath, but twins don’t hear him.

‘What do we want?’ Issei wonders. ‘A cake, maybe?’

‘Ah, good idea! Cream puffs!’ Ichiru adds on, and Issei smiles briefly, before his eyes refocus on Shu.

‘Is that alrigh- Shu?!’

‘It’s okay, it’s okay!’ Eichi assures from somewhere above them, though his voice sounds strained now. Somewhere to their side, they can hear Rikka make similarly strained sound, while Shu just hides face in his hands.

Cake. They were going to risk their lives as a live decoy and all they can think of getting in return is _a cake_.

‘Shu just has a small breakdown right now over the two of you.’ Shiki speaks matter-of-factly, and, as if to confirm, his fellow Composer speaks, looking up, blue eyes shining.

‘Shiki. My Singers are just too precious.’

‘Just where did that even come from?!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so much setup urgh, but I want you to see the mess that is planning with forty humans and vampires from different backgrounds...  
> Fun fact, this chapter and next one, I originally wanted to post as one, as the "setup" chapter of sorts, if you know what I mean. The only problem is. The thing I just posted is 7k. At the moment of splitting it, I had already 3k written, and still at least 3k more to write to stop at a point I wanted to cut it off. I didn't want to post a 13k+ setup chapter!  
> So I'll end up posting two shorter setup chapters *sweats* I know it's also bad, but. Man, I have too much feels leading up to the action. And too much characterization to say, leave out half of the scenes happening offscreen... I'm hopeless.  
> Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be up soon? Not like, tommorow soon, but few days soon?


	10. Fata Morgana

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun story, back when this and last chapter were supposed to be one, I wanted them to be titled Fata Morgana, because the missing children were like an illusion that magically disappeared. Turns out, few days might be the time you need for a strike of brilliance, because it now refers to both that and one other thing in-universe.  
> (also, never hold me accountable for the approximate word count I give before posting...this thing was supposed to wrap at 7k, is over 9k...)  
> Enjoy!

The moment between Quell gives the General time to gather his thoughts, so when they finally break the Eichi hug - with much coaxing from Shu, and did he see the Vampire just _pout_ at his third Singer right now? For wha- „not including him”? What did that even mean - he slowly speaks up.

‘So you two would be willing to take on the roles of the decoys for the next try at cracking the ring? Even though it will be much more dangerous than the regular work in Unit?’

He directs the words at the twins. Before he can proceed, he needs to hear an audible consent AND make the boys understand what they were signing up for.

‘Beyond their target range, and the fact that the other decoys are still alive, we know very little about the people - or Vampires - we’re dealing with. Practically nothing, in fact.’

Twins look at each other, exchanging the thoughts between themselves.

‘We’re just as much of an unknown to them, as they are to us.’ Issei finally speaks up. ‘Aside of Shu, nobody from Quell is well known on the Field, and we’re not even known from Support, like Eichi is. That makes us much more likely to mingle with the potential victims.’

General nods, there’s logic in it. Issei continues.

‘And we... I don’t know if it’s right to say it ourselves... but we are stronger than other decoys were. Probably.’

‘Definitely.’ at the same time chorus Ai and Koi. Issei looks at their seniors, then nods.

‘And, we will be coming in together, meaning that we have all advantages other decoys didn’t.’ he finishes his thought. ‘Although, I’m not sure...we weren’t even on the Field...’

‘That’s one of your advantages though?’ Tsubasa says. Eichi reluctantly nods.

‘I don’t like the idea of you going alone.’ he says slowly. ‘But it’s true that, outside Tsukino, and outside Shu’s Group, there’s nobody even knowing about your power, potential and skill. Since we’ve kept to inside of the facilities even before the kidnappings became this widespread, with all the training before the challenge, in Tokyo you’re just a pair of nameless children. With high energy core and traits attracting vampires, but still.’

‘In other words, a perfect target.’ Shiki says. Ichiru inhales and exhales loudly.

‘So, in short, if we’re suited for the job, we want to do it.’

‘There’s more reason for us to be there this way, too.’ Issei adds softly, and Ichiru shifts closer to him.

General doesn’t like it, but he can see that neither did rest of Quell, because twins are sandwiched securely between their older Unitmates, and so, he just nods. He knows Shu will deliver, reassuring their Singers was one of the skills all Composers trained most of their lives.

‘For now, the outline of the plan would look like this: make the twins infiltrate as their targets. Confirm position of other kidnapped children, and report on the possible number of offenders; after they signal, raid them, recover children and arrest.’ Soushi slowly counts out.

‘Lots of unknown variables, I sense.’ Kakeru speaks up, and rest of Gravi sweatdrops.

‘And you say I was lame.’

‘Shut it.’

‘Only first point doesn’t seem to be that much of a hassle.’ Tsubaki speaks slowly, ignoring the squabble of Six Gravi’s youngest pair. Matsuri nods.

‘I’ve already calculated the most likely kidnapping spots for two nearest rotations,’ she says lightly, ‘so setting up decoy in a good place and making it look as accidental as possible is a matter of scripting it convincingly.’

‘That was fast.’ Akane applauds her teammate, before turning back to the room. ‘That means we can move to the next point. I don’t think getting in contact with other children will be a problem, as long as the two of you wouldn’t be outed before getting into camp. And that means, the next problem...’

‘...is the signal.’ Wakaba says considering, her eyes tracing from Shu to Issei. ‘How advanced are older brother’s training in water creation, Izumi-san? Because I presume he takes those teachings from you.’

‘Indeed.’ Shu looks at Issei who nods back at him. ‘I’d say we’re in a good spot. Issei doesn’t experiment with living and independently moving forms, but I think provoking single movement from a shape is no longer a problem?’

Issei nods, and Wakaba blinks, before turning accusatory eyes on Solids.

‘You’ve said they started training just months ago.’

Dai, as well as rest of Solids, blink in confusion.

‘Because they did?’

‘That’s not the level for training with water for months.’ Mizuki says slowly, and Shu smiles softly.

‘Not for me or you, Himekawa-dono. But...’ he looks at Issei and Ichiru, and Tsukino is hundred percent sure the glint in his eye is pride. ‘Issei and Ichiru are quite talented children.’

‘We’re not kids, though?’ Ichiru grumbles, but Issei shakes his head.

‘Shu, you’re just explaining well.’

‘No amount of well-explaining should move you to the level of moving creations in less than _two years_ at least.’ Mizuki says, and there’s disbelief mixed with respect in her voice. ‘Just what kind of training you do?!’

Wakaba looks just as stunned.

‘Even for vampire Elementals it takes a year at least...’

‘Ryo, your primary is water right?’ Kensuke turns to his friend. ‘How it-’

‘We learn our elements as we learn how to communicate with Spirit that manages those.’ Ryota returns. ‘It’s different for us, since we have their backup from the start, but... yes, I think a year is a good estimate...’

Aoi looks at Kai, and they also slowly look back at Quell and nod.

‘It’s a very optimistic estimate, too.’ Kai says slowly. ‘That’s coming from me, who has no historical hunter background, so I guess I’m the closest to you guys in terms of training, too...’

‘They learn through creating the technique together at first - maybe there lies the secret?’ Eichi says, though his tone quite obviously sounds like bragging. Tsukino wonders when did his Shield Unit morphed into proud parents and their kids.

‘That’s even more complicated!’ almost all water users say at the same time, disbelief evident.

‘Really?’ simultaneously ask both pairs of twins present. Wakaba groans, Mizuki slams her head against table quite unelegantly, Aoi chuckles nervously, and Kai just shakes his head.

‘Water is considered individualistic to a fault, only fire might be worse; in that way, it is impressive that Issei and Ichiru find it easier to work together.’ Shu explains to the room, as all other Water users seem to be too dumbstruck to give reason to their reactions. ‘Then again, the two constantly communicate between themselves, and that connection wasn’t closed even when they suppressed their powers.’

‘It’s kind of impossible to do that; even if it weakens as you go separate ways.’ Koi says, flopping over the table, his sister nodding besides him.

‘I don’t think this type of weakening is a risk for those two, though...’

‘I don’t think so.’ agrees Issei, shoulder touching Ichiru’s. Shu smiles.

‘Well, if that’s the case, at least we don’t have to worry about the sign?’ Kai says slowly. ‘If the barrier exists to block out connections created with energy, like glyphs and so on, water creation send up high enough should get through it no problem.’

Shu slowly nods.

‘We can get them to that level.’ he looks down at the boys at his side. ‘As well as some more blocking and guarding creations.’

‘Well, that would close the phase one, localization of the base. Phase two would be reclaiming the children and catching the suspects. Or, should I said, culprits.’ Hajime says. ‘We definitely will get the support from outside organizations, question is, who will _we_ choose? We cannot leave the Field unattended, not completely.’

‘I think Fluna and Gravi should have the active involvement with the case.’ Yuki says slowly, her eyes straying to her partner. ‘Just in case.’

Ai blinks.

‘You’re worried about power that’s twin-exclusive slipping out of control and nobody knowing what to do about it?’ she asks slowly, and her partner nods. ‘Well, I don’t mind, but Kugas are already at higher synchronicity level than me and brother are.’

‘You can feel that, too, huh?’ Koi says, side-eyeing the younger Unit. ‘But, I guess in technical testing of potential of connection we’re ahead still, so. I agree with Yuki-san.’

Hajime nods.

‘If vampires from Loser side are involved, it would be better for us to stay out of this and keep Haru-san in.’ muses You. Catching confused stares of Quell twins, he explains. ‘Hazuki is a family directly connected with Mikaze family that belonged to the Seven that led the human side to victor- wait, your Leader is also one of the Seven, why am I the one explaining that!’

Shu chuckles, strained.

‘Everything from before Great Tragedy is slightly... hazy, so. I leave explaining to the better than me.’ he says, and Issei looks up at him.

‘This has got something to do with a thing - that other thing you want to tell us later, when we’re older?’

‘Yeah.’ Shu says, only marginally surprised Issei still remembers. Older twin nods, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Ichiru huffs.

‘With the amount of stuff you have to tell us, we’ll be talking all day long, once this day happens.'

‘Why not?’ Eichi offers. ‘With a good tea, and everyone comfortable, we’ll get to have a somewhat nice time together and get to know each other better at the same time.’

‘Eichi, you have it easier, since you know both of those things.’ Ichiru grumbles. Eichi has decency to look sheepish. Shu shakes his head.

‘Ichiru, don’t vent on Eichi, all those things are on me... on not finding the right words.’

‘Shu.’ Issei interrupts, gently tugging at his brother. ‘Ichiru isn’t angry or anything. We just want to get to know you, since you know us. And with words, I’m just as bad, so. It’s fine.’

‘Thank you, Issei.’ Shu says with a smile, and You makes a face.

‘Definitely a family.’

That prompts few people in the room to snort, while Quell looks at Procella’s middle pair in confusion.

‘Excuse me-?’

‘Ah, it’s nothing!’ Yoru quickly says, pinching You to keep him quiet. His partner gives him a dirty look. ‘Anyway, since Nagatsukis always follow after Hazukis, both our families have tight connections with at the moment still only light Elementals, and families of the Seven, so it’s a bit tricky for us to go against Loser families.’

‘Yoru’s from lesser family, right?’ Tsubasa asks. ‘Who’s your Guard? Or rather, was, Procella works long enough that I guess you no longer need one to move independently...’

‘Aoi is.’ Yoru says with a smile and nod at his counterpart, showing his wrist with pale blue mark of Guardian Pact. ‘Or well, Arata should be, as the High, but since he couldn’t be found on the day we had to do it, Aoi took over for him. You is our Observator.’

‘So that’s what you meant about work put into looking after them.’ Shiki mutters, side-eyeing Hajime. Other leader sighs, but nods.

‘Procella also has the highest rate at failing at stealth.’ Shun muses, and You sends him a dirty look.

‘And whose fault it is.’

‘But we also have sensor and cover up specialists, right, Rui, Yoru?’

‘Sensors were deemed useless, though.’ consciously points out Rui. ‘Since we cannot sense the barrier or past the barrier, and - ah.’

He blinks. Iku also blinks.

‘Rui? Do you think what I think?’ he asks slowly, and vampire nods. Dai looks between them.

‘They wouldn’t risk this kind of give-away sign, though.’ he says slowly, to the confusion of the whole room. ‘I have a lot to say against them, but Minazukis aren’t foolish enough for that.’

‘What are you- Void.’ Tsubasa says with sudden realization. He looks between Rui and Dai. ‘You think there’s no barrier, but somebody uses Void to hide children outside.’

Room ‘ooh’ as one.

‘That makes sense, why scouts can't find anything of sorts, and why the signals disappear. It would make it easier to check who stands behind the cases, too.’ Yuno says, excitement in her voice. ‘I mean, Void as a hunter technique vastly differs from Void as an inborn vampire skill-’

‘But.’ Tsubaki speaks up slowly. ‘Among vampires, the only ones with registered existence of that skill has always been Tendouin, Shimotsuki or Minazuki relatives.’

‘And that would mean both Procella and Seleas should keep away in case their family members are involved.’ Kai says with dawning realization. Matsuri hums.

‘Not completely, but we should stay out of field work for this case.’

‘I’m all in for it~’ Shun says lightly, and all of Procella sigh.

‘We can still make use of our research, since we have a sample of both hunter’s and vampire’s Void.’ researcher of Seleas continue. Then, her tone drops. ‘Of course, if it turns out it’s artificially invented technique, we’d be back to square one.’

‘Not entirely.’ Haru smiles. ‘There are ways to identify manufacturer, and we have connections that might make it easier to do so...’

‘But to do that, we first need to get the plan underway.’ Hajime reminds everyone. ‘I agree that Gravi and Fluna can take it on from special Units, while leaving Seleas and Procella dealing with any outbursts on the Field.’

‘I hope you don’t expect us to stay on the sidelines while Isse and Icchi are inside the jaws of the lion.’ Eichi speaks up, arm still wrapped around Ichiru. Younger twin seemingly gave up on getting out of the hold, his hand just loosely twined with his brother’s. Shu nods, his hand still on Issei's shoulder as well.

‘Personally, I’d also like Growth to be involved, with Etou’s people among those abducted, but,’ Kouki says with visible reluctance, ‘our main power is the fact our Songs work well against Black Despair. We’ll be better choice for keeping the Field placated.’

‘That’s a hard but correct decision, I feel.’ General nods. ‘I actually would like both Field Supports to focus on Field for this one. You were created with consideration of your fighting skills against Puppetmasters and Marionettes, and while I know Growth has enough battle training with three of the members belonging to Etou's elites, you’re still disadvantaged against living beings being the opponents.’

‘But then, what about sensors backing up the mission?’ Ren asks, and the room can feel his jittery. ‘They will be required, if only to get their readings as the evidence of what was happening before we raided the camp, but after we breach barrier, because during battle, anything can get destroyed.’

‘The boy has a point.’ Kurisu says, ignoring the fact they're about the same age. ‘We will have to count on decoys' reports, and those are going to have blank spots...’

‘What about Water Memory?’ Wakaba speaks up. Mizuki opens her mouth, before she looks at Issei, and slowly closes it. Issei shifts under watchful stare, and Ichiru instinctively moves closer to him.

‘No.’ Shu says, standing up before any other water user can speak up. ‘They’re _children_.’

‘Genius children, judging from the progress.’ says Wakaba in counter. ‘And also a human Elemental, which, to be honest, is not something anybody would believe, so, we wouldn’t have to worry about them being discovered using that.’

‘It’s still too dangerous, it’s-’ Shu speaks up, but before he can continue, Kai raises his hand.

‘I have a faint idea what you Highs are talking about, but I suspect it’s only because my element agrees with yours, rest of the room has no idea what is being discussed.’ he says, stealing a glance at twins next to Shu. ‘Including the ones most interested.’

Shu looks back at the Kuga twins. Issei tilts his head.

‘Is the memory that thing you used some week ago just at the end of our training session?’ he asks, and Shu can only stare at him, before sliding back onto his chair with a sigh. ‘Shu? I’m wrong?’

‘No, that’s why I’m being amazed right now.’ his leader answers. ‘How did you figure it out?’

Issei shifts.

‘It felt as if... something was clinging to the water, but only near you. And the spatial points around you.’

‘He’s at a level-’ Mizuki starts, bewilderment borderlining on offense in her voice, but Shu only nods. ‘Why are you even opposed to-’

‘Because.’ Shu says. ‘The first time _I_ used Water memory I recorded a minute, and almost lost my senses. And I was already twenty. I know it would look like I was Issei’s age due to our aging differences, but _I was older_. And it took me almost a decade to master it. We’re not going to have this long to teach Issei.’

‘But he also won’t have few hundred lives to manage in the meanwhile, or a national vampire-human conflict to solve.’ Shiki muses, before sighing. ‘But first, maybe really explain what you’re talking about. I remember the incident you mention, but I still don’t get what actually happened back then.’

Rikka looks between two Highs.

 _„Why I don’t remember anything like that happening?”_ he sends to Shiki.

_„You had other matters to handle, back then.”_

_„Back...oh.”_

_„Yeah, that.”_

‘Water Memory is, in the simplest meaning of the word, a technique meant to record memories of the user’s body.’ Shu says slowly. ‘That means, it records not only emotions and things they were consciously aware of at the time, but everything, even things brain normally mute for the sake of sanity. From the sensation of clothes touching your body, to the discussion happening in the same room you choose to mute to focus on the person you had in front of yourself. It cannot be overwritten, and manipulation of it is impossible to be done without detecting, because unconscious part of the brain isn’t capable of being tricked.’

‘Sounds like an useful skill.’ slowly says Iku. ‘But also heavy.’

Shu smiles wryly.

‘”Heavy” is a good word. You make your body register all the impulses twice - once, as they reach your brain, second time, as the water in your body registers them in Water Memory.’ he says. ‘Although our bodies are sixty to seventy percent water, you cannot store those memories for infinity, as they do make for gradually heavier, and eventually physical burden.’

He pulls out the blue crystal from his pocket and Ren ‘oh’s. Shu nods at him.

‘I used it to record report of Ari’s disappearance.’ he says, showing the crystal to the room. ‘By pouring the memory into potent stone, we make a Memory Crystal and ease the burden on the body. Incorrect usage might cause amnesia, though, as the memories registered in brain can also slip into crystal by accident.’

‘It’s registered as an XS-rank technique, even among High hunters.’ Mizuki says slowly. ‘ Only highest level hunters are allowed to even practice it. It is a dangerous technique, but. The memories are recorded even when the person is unconscious or drugged. As long as the technique is active, body will record what is happening to it, and the usage of spatial points lets position the user in the space, even when they themselves might not be able to do that.’

‘Spatial points...’ Issei muses quietly. ‘Then, senses, so, sensory receptors... then, instinct? Probably, to make use of recording emotions and maybe, mental messages... That are the three fields that need to be managed for Memory to work out. Oh, also, the id, subconscious part of the brain. Right?’

He asks the room, and is answered with stunned silence again, before Wakaba doesn’t break it.

‘Are we really sure you’re fourteen?’

‘Issei is just smart!’ Ichiru jumps in the defense of his brother, wrapping him in a tight, protective hug, and the water vampire backtracks her words.

‘I meant it in a good way!’ she says. ‘The basic of mastering any water technique is understanding it and feeling it in equal parts. And you seem to have the first half done already...’

‘I’m slightly worried that we skip over the fact this technique almost made an adul- okay, at the time almost adult High vampire go mad, though.’ Aoi speaks up. ‘Am I worrying for nothing?’

Wakaba visibly deflates, and Shu shakes his head.

‘That’s also my opinion.’ he says, side-eyeing the ladies. ‘Water Memory has so many points at which it can turn against its’ user, it’s almost ridiculous. In normal conditions, I don’t think we’d even be discussing it.’

‘But, we’re not normal.’ Issei, says, and his hands automatically move to Ichiru’s, still wrapped around him. ‘By definition, while I would be the one using it, Ichiru would also be involved. I wouldn’t be the one providing energy for it. It’s why I can learn quicker, right?’

‘That’s just one point, Issei.’ Shu sighs. ‘Although I did plan to teach you Memory, I didn’t want to start until next year at least, when you’d be comfortable with all of the power you’ve already grasped. Memory will require you using spatial points from outside, and inner Water Manipulation from the inside. I know you like it.’

He adds quickly, seeing Issei’s opening mouth.

‘But in tandem with it, you’ll have to use cloaking, that we’ve only started training recently. And even if you can learn it, and learn it quick, I don’t want you to go with unsecured weapon that can backfire on you in the middle of enemy camp, while you’re on your own.’

‘Those are all very valid reasons, and all, but,’ Tsubasa says, side-eyeing Quell, ‘I think you’re also forgetting you’d be protecting them by teaching the kidddos this Memory thing. We have no idea what to tell them what to watch out for, and you yourself has said Memory will record everything. That means, we should be able to get the evidence against the masterminds, even if one or more of them get lost in a scuffle. In other words, the kiddos would be last to be kidnapped for good, as we'd get all the info we would need.’

‘That’s true, but- the danger is real, this isn’t something that can be learned in a week or two to a level where Issei will be able to store days upon days of memories.’ Shu argues back. ‘And we don’t know how long the whole mission will take, or- there’s just too many variables.’

‘Even with those variables, Water Memory is our best hit.’ slowly says Mizuki. ‘Scouts use memorizing crystals, but those are really easy to find, and automatically out them to the captors. Making the twins spy around consciously instead of focusing on staying safe - as safe as they can be in the captors’ camp - puts them in an unnecessary risk. While just sending them in and getting them to give us a signal is a lot, to definitely break the circle up and have the children in the shelters safe, we need hard evidences. Water Memory cannot be tampered with, once recorded and poured into a crystal, this is a common fact; with it, anything Issei and Ichiru bring back in it will serve as a first-hand testimony and evidence all at at once.’

‘It can’t be the only solution.’ Eichi speaks up quietly. ‘There never is only one way to go about things.’

‘This is the most foolproof, though.’ Wakaba disagrees. ‘Water Memory is what vampires use during crucial meetings, as it cannot be faked, so the report also cannot be tampered. Though I agree it’s a hassle to learn it.’

‘Well, we will be nearby.’ Tsubasa adds. ‘I don’t think all of Solids will be able to assist without causing blanks in Field performance, but-’

‘We can split.’ Shiki says with a nod. ‘Not that I like the idea. Still, your and Rikka’s Duet is definitely aimed at keeping people safe, not fighting against specific foe; same with most of Rikka’s Solos, it will be effective against anybody, and the two of you _have_ fighting experience.’

‘So, you and Dai would then keep watch over Field.’ Rikka says slowly. ‘In that case, it will be the best if the whole action of dismantling the circle took less than a week. Recently, lilies need just a bit more maintenance than before.’

He looks over at Quell.

‘Preferably, it will be over in just hours from twins entering the camp.’ he says softly, then slightly louder. ‘Shu, since you’ve planned to teach him it anyway, why not let Issei train Water Memory together with cloaking and barrier-building you no doubt has started scheduling the second you agreed to them being decoys?’

Shu inhales, then exhales.

‘I want to learn it, Shu.’ Issei, until now observing, thinking, analyzing, speaks up softly, addressing his leader. ‘You can ask us to stay within Tsukino, but not all children can afford doing that right? Plus.’

He grasps at Ichiru’s hand just a bit stronger.

‘I don’t like the idea of Ichiru- of us living in fear. Not again.’ he says with something steely in his voice. His twin just leans closer on his shoulder. ‘We’re going to become Shield, and if Water Memory can help us shield other children from ever experiencing the kidnapping, then... I want to do it.’

‘ _We_ want to do it.’ Ichiru corrects him. ‘I don’t get it well, but I’m not letting you go crazy with the Memory thing. And if you forget anything, I’ll remember for both of us.’

‘Ichiru...’ Issei smiles at his twin. ‘I don’t think that’s how amnesia works, but. Thank you.’

‘Sure thing!’ Ichiru grins at him from up close. ‘I’m your power bank, I can start being memory bank as well.’

‘Twins' connection is something that has many undiscovered applications, so.’ Ai smiles. ‘Who knows, maybe it will affect positively Water Memory as well.’

Twins nod, then turn pleading eyes at their leader.

‘Shu, please?’

And vampire sighs, heavily.

‘Eichi.’ he addresses his other teammate. ‘Do you think we can-?’

‘I’ll reserve training rooms for the maximum of time appropriate for training.’ Eichi says softly. ‘The resources aren’t a problem, it’s a matter of willingness.’

He smiles.

‘You know I’ll go with whatever you decide.’ he reaches out and pulls twins into a hug, prompting Ichiru’s yelp. ‘You know all three of us have a lot to learn, so. I’m just going to put my all into learning and helping to learn!’

‘Eichi, you’re being sappy again!’ Ichiru complains. ‘You’ll get Shu emotional!’

‘I don’t think it’s possible to make Shu more emotional than he is about all of you already.’ Rikka softly jabs at his younger friend, but there is fondness in it.

‘If there’s one thing I’ve learned since meeting my Singers, it’s to never say never.’ Shu says, a forced smile on his face. He lets it drop with a sigh, and looks at Issei once again. ‘Are you sure?’

Issei nods.

‘I know you. And I know you can teach me.’ he says, before lowering his voice, as if his shyness kicked back in, ‘Although, I don’t know if I can learn it... or, learn quick enough...’

‘Two weeks.’ general Tsukino finally speaks up. He looks at Quell, and Shu closes his mouth, prepared to reassure Issei. Well, he'll have time for it. ‘In a week, we have the briefing session with forces from other organizations. If until then, nobody will come up with any other plan, we will go through with Kugas going in as decoys, and if it gets approved, in two weeks time, the plan will go underway.’

He nods towards Matsuri and Kurisu.

‘We’ll use that time to confirm schedule of the circle as much as possible from outside. As Eichi-kun has said, there’s never one way to go about things, so I want everyone to think about alternatives for Water Memory. However, I also want Quell to focus their training on the twins mastering all cloaking techniques available to them, and Water Memory itself.’

He looks at both twins with something akin to fondness, then directly into Shu’s eyes.

‘We will try to protect them as much as we can, but this plan was a bargain from the very start. It has high success probability, at least for releasing other victims, even without Water Memory, and possibility to deal with the circle with it in the picture. On the other hand. It will be two against who knows how many, for however long it will take us to get to them.’

He stands up, and looks at the twins doing the same thing with the rest of the room.

‘That’s why it’s our job to provide you with as much back up as we can. From the start to finish. I’m not letting Shield fall apart even before it gets to be fully formed.’

*

‘And that was the conclusion we came to a week ago.’ Tsukino finishes his overview of the plan.

There’s only six representatives of the other forces and their subcaptains in the room. All of them sit around the giant table, looking at Tsukino, and analyzing his words.

‘We have confirmed with this week’s abduction that our matching up to the kidnappers is right.’ Tsukino continues, motioning to Kouki, sitting with other human captains on his left. ‘We’ve also confirmed that the main camp is definitely outside. The newest victim was from the Etou region, and the time between the kidnapping and the last alert is also definitely related.’

‘In short, you want us not to spare our Field forces, as it definitely is a Field issue as well.’ says one of the generals, sitting on the opposite side of the table. ‘It makes me slightly worried that we’re sending yet another children to the frontlines again, but, I presume you had no better idea.’

He hesitates.

‘In all honesty, I don’t have.’ he admits quietly.

‘I guarantee you, if anybody came up with a better idea, you wouldn’t even hear about Shield until next Briefing.’ Tsukino says. ‘They do extremely well, considering the circumstances, but we aren’t heartless enough to thoughtlessly kick fourteen-year-olds straight into some mess we aren’t even sure if it’s political, biological or mix of something else, when we have other options. It’s just-’

‘We’re out of options.’ dryly says general from the Hoshi organization, Michisaki. ‘If there was more time we could perhaps figure out more about the opponents, but. As it is, the public is already in an uproar because of the failed hearing, one side saying we don’t protect enough, the other that we attack them too much. If this continues, we will get back to the reality from after the human-vampire war, huh.’

‘Worse than that.’ dryly says Shiki. ‘Post-war, we at least could afford going back to our own, separate terrains. Now-’

‘”Our own terrains” are either parts of the Field infested with Marionettes, or shelters with reduced space capacity, huh.’ Michisaki sighs with a soft curse. ‘Definitely, a solution that helps us solve the issue quickly and direct the feelings of public in the right direction is the correct choice, in that situation.’

Tsukino leaders look on as more and more generals and captains come to the same conclusion, until they had complete, if reluctant, support of their plan.

‘So, that only leaves us with one thing to confirm.’ Tsukino nods, before turning to the vampire sitting closest to his right. ‘Shu, what’s the progress of that what we were talking about a week ago?’

Shu reluctantly raises his head, and Shiki snorts, patting his counterpart heavily.

‘That’s the first time I see you being reluctant to boast about your kids.’ he says, when Shu turns to glare at him. ‘Get a grip on yourself, Shu.’

‘It’s not your Singers that are sent as decoys.’ Shu grumbles, and Shiki nods his head, ignoring the stares.

‘I would sigh with relief if at least Tsubasa did, but unfortunately, he’s over the age limit, so. Sorry.’

‘Gentlemen?’ General Tsukino raises his eyebrow at SQ leaders. Shu reluctantly turns to him.

‘They’ve mastered it. Now all is left is tandeming it with cloaking, but they can work on that with Eichi alone as well, so it will take-’

‘Wait a moment.’ Tsukino raises his hand. ‘By the „mastered it” you mean...’

‘Water Memory. We cut out the sense of scent, but rest of it, Issei has complete control over. And Ichiru can still provide him with energy for it without anybody noticing the channel through which he does it. Currently they can hold it up to two hours, but by next week they’ll be able to keep it up to twelve, maybe a bit more, provided Ichiru is close by and they can touch.’ Shu reluctantly elaborates, noting as the eyebrows raise on more than one face. ‘We could probably get him to hold it longer, but I’m not cutting on their cover up training for that, and I’m not expanding on their already giant workload.’

‘That’s better news than I expected, if I’m honest-’ starts Tsukino, interrupted by the voice from across the table.

‘We’re talking about Water Memory, the highest grade water technique that even experienced, and shall I add vampire, spies have hard time working with? And since Izumi’s the one reporting, that would mean it’s the fourteen year old human kids mastering it?’ one of the captains under Michisaki looks thoroughly shocked. Tsukino smiles up at him, while Shiki looks openly smug.

‘I’m pretty sure we’ve mentioned on one mission or the other not to underestimate Solids counterpart, whoever they turn out to be.’ he then turns back to Shu. ‘There’s more, right?’

Shu, uncharacteristically, groans.

‘How?’

‘How long have we known each other?’ Shiki returns dryly.

‘Too long.’ Shu answers on autopilot and Shiki agrees.

‘What more is there, Shiki-san, Shu-san?’ Kouki asks curiously from between Hajime and Sora. The latter of which ‘ah’s, looking at Shu with squinted eyes.

‘Is this-’

‘Yes.’ Shu sighs, before raising his hand to where threads invisible to anybody not Composer swam in the air around him. ‘It’s their Duet.’

‘New Song, especially Duet, at this time...’ Hajime ponders for a bit. ‘You think it has something to do with the mission?’

‘That’s the problem- I don’t know.’ Shu fists his hand before lowering it onto his armrest. ‘If I knew, there would be no problem.’

‘Right.’ Sora nods. ‘You’d knew if it was worth distracting them from the training or not.’

‘Ugh.’ Shun flops on the vampire side of the table. ‘Leaders really have it hard with all those decisions.’

‘You’re supposed to be leader too, Shun.’ Hajime says to his counterpart and it seems to make Shun straighten.

‘If the King says so~’

Hajime just rolls his eyes.

Tsukino keeps quiet, as he observes his forces’ leaders figuring things out together.

‘Why not let them decide for themselves?’ Kouki speaks up, and when everybody looks at him, he clarifies. ‘Issei and Ichiru. When Spirit User isn’t sure which path to take, he asks the Spirit within for advice. They are part of us and so, our decisions affect them as well. Aren’t Songs like that, too? Affecting both Composer and the Singer.’

‘That’s... well, I know what they will answer.’ Shu says, the tiniest of smiles making some people shift - it felt too intimate to show outside of safety of one's home. ‘They’re too hardworking to agree to postpone something this big, especially since they did come with me all the way from Hokkaido as my Singers first and foremost.’

‘Then why don’t you trust them to know what’s in their capability? You can discuss your doubts that way, too.’ Kouki advises, experience from leading people since tender age shining through. ‘Eichi-san also seems to be having quite an influence on them, so if you worry about them overworking, he might be able to help in managing that.’

‘I agree Eichi is a blessing.’ Shu says, making Shiki snort.

‘Are we sure Horimiya has an influence only on the Kugas?’ he asks dryly, and Shu smiles at him.

‘I don’t want to hear that from you, out of all people.’ he returns. ‘By the way, is Rikka letting you off of your coffee ban?’

‘I’m functioning. This should be the answer enough.’ Shiki defends(?) himself, prompting Tsukino to chuckle amusedly.

‘I’ll ask your Changer to go easy on you for a while.’ he says. ‘We need all of our forces functioning and ready to join in support of our youngest Field members. Shu, let me know the results after you discuss it with your fa-Unit.’

‘Why do I feel you were about to say something-’ one of the generals start, and Tsukino quickly interrupts him.

‘I might be getting tired and having slips of the tongue now. All the more reason to finish this case as soon as possible. With that, we’d like to move on to discussing your possible support in the second phase, children reclaiming...’

*

‘I’m back... oh.’

‘Right?!’ Eichi whisper screams at him, even as he presses a finger to his lips to ask for quiet, sitting at the side of the sofa. Next to him, twins were leaning on each other, covered by the blue blanket, obviously asleep, and even more obviously quite comfy.

Against himself, Shu smiles.

‘They look comfortable.’

‘That, they do.’ Eichi answers, before quietly standing up and away from twins, moving towards Shu. ‘Welcome home, by the way.’

‘I’m home.’ he says lowly, leaning into a hug and a brief kiss Eichi offered to ground him in reality where yes, his duties were now over and he could finally rest.

Eichi was so good at grounding him.

‘Hard time at a meeting?’ Eichi asks slowly, as Shu just keeps holding him tight. Vampire nods.

‘That, too, but also...’ he looks at the sofa. ‘I’m just worried in general.’

‘The feeling is mutual here.’ Eichi says softly, squeezing him back. ‘But, they’re determined to see it through. Like the angels they are.’

Shu agrees. Then, he hesitates, but Eichi obviously notices.

‘There’s something more specific on your mind than just „general worry”, isn’t it?’ he asks, and vampire sighs, sinking deeper into hug. ‘I’m here to listen if you need it, Shu.’

‘I know, Eichi.’ it feels so comfortable, to have the other man so close. ‘Thank you. Actually, I might use your offer.’

‘Take your time.’ Eichi smiles, gently directing them to sit just a small distance from the sofa, where they can observe twins, but also keep talking without risk of waking them up. Shu recaps what was said during the meeting, Eichi nodding along.

‘I get where your worries come from, but,’ he says, looking at the boys curled on the sofa, ‘the two of them rest properly, and eat properly. I make sure of it. Plus, I think the variety in training also might give them a much needed change of pace. And at last, we all love your Songs.’

He chuckles.

‘I think this is the most important one, actually.’ he says, letting his head fall on Shu’s shoulder. ‘But, in case you needed other reasons. We can talk to them once they wake up, if you still have your doubts.’

‘As expected of Eichi.’ Shu sighs. ‘You know exactly what I needed to hear. But...’

He pulls human just a bit closer to himself, and Eichi’s cheeks dust with pink, even if he doesn’t oppose Shu in any way.

‘There’s one more Song I want to write.’ he confesses softly. ‘Actually, I’m pretty sure I could have it ready today, if I started now. It’s just...’

He searches for the best words to give his thoughts shape.

‘It’s... our Duet, and I, well, I don’t want to put words in your mouth...’

‘Oh.’ Eichi blushes faintly. ‘You did mention Songs include honest feelings of the Singer, right.’

They descend into silence, at least until Eichi doesn’t take a deep breath.

‘But, that only means your feelings will be in it as well, right?’ he asks, and Shu blinks.

‘Of course-’

‘Then, it’s fine.’ Eichi smiles. ‘We went through one embarrassing mutual reveal, and... well...’

He looks up at Shu.

‘I don’t think there is anything out there you don’t know about me already.’ he admits, face becoming rapidly red.

Shu saves him from further embarrassment by pressing their lips together, but honestly. At this point he wondered who was being saved by who...

‘Thank you. I’ll make it the best Song ever.’ he pauses only long enough to utter this promise and see Eichi’s answering smile, before he leans back in.

They separate only once they hear shuffling from the direction of sofa, and back away slightly, to appear as inconspicuous as possible, while Issei slowly gathers his bearings.

Surprisingly, for a child having a really hard time in the mornings, he was quite easily roused from the naps...

‘Ah, Shu, welcome home.’ he greets once he catches sight of them, before yawning. ‘Eichi, sorry, we fell asleep during the chat...’

‘It’s fine, Isse~’ Eichi says softly, still moving slightly away from Shu. He misses his presence, but then, soon after, he himself moves closer to their children. ‘If you needed it, you needed it, end of story.’

‘Okay.’ Issei looks down at Ichiru, who slipped down to continue his nap with his face smushed against Issei’s stomach. Twin smiles, patting his younger brother’s hair.

‘Say, Shu.’ he looks up. ‘How did the meeting go?’

‘Ah, that’s right.’ Shu wakes from the stupor the cuteness in front of him caused, and coughs lightly. ‘It went as we expected.’

Issei nods slowly, but his hand stopped its’ petting motion.

‘When will we-’

‘Before that, Issei.’ Shu interrupts the boy, and Issei looks at him curiously. ‘There are two things I wanted to talk about with you. Well, both of you, but, I’ll just repeat it with Ichiru, if the need comes.’

Issei nods.

‘So, one: did you think about something else for after the mission?’ Shu asks and Eichi 'oh's. ‘Just for the record, I’ve already put the request in with our bakeries, but-’

‘Shu. Also just for the record, but. You didn’t order multiple bakeries to prepare cream puffs for us, did you?’ Issei asks slowly, and Shu suddenly feels really exposed. Issei looks at him strangely, before sighing. ‘Though I’m afraid I know the answer already... okay. Maybe we will just make a cream puff party afterwards...’

‘Ah, I like that idea!’ Eichi exclaims, still softly, to let Ichiru continue his nap, and Issei nods. Then hums deeply, looking between the two of them.

‘It’s... not really something physical, but...’ he hesitates some more, but both Shu and Eichi smile at him encouragingly, so Issei asks softly, 'after we return, can you please stop hiding? At least from us.’

‘Hiding?’ Shu and Eichi chorus. Issei nods.

And Eichi once again feels his face heating up.

‘Was it obvious we hid?’ Shu asks slowly, and Issei tilts his head.

‘A bit? I mean, you never showed it, or told us, but, it felt like... we were intruding or... forcefully separating you?’ he tries to put his observation into words. ‘And we didn’t want to, but... I wasn’t sure how to say it, I’m sorry.’

‘Isse, it’s not your fault.’ Eichi says softly, but before he’s able to say anything more, Ichiru wakes up.

‘What’sthefussabout? Oh, Shu, welcome back.’ he says, getting up from his brother’s lap. Shu cannot help but smile, even as Issei helps sleepy Ichiru fix his hair. ‘So? What happened?’

‘Meeting board approved of the plan.’ Shu says and it seems to wake Ichiru completely. ‘In a week, if situation doesn’t change, we will go through with the original project.’

Ichiru nods, but he also unconsciously shifts closer to Issei.

‘That’s why, I wanted to talk to the two of you about two things. Issei has already answered, what he wants once you come back from the mission.’ Shu exchanges looks with Eichi. ‘And I think it will take time using to, but we can do what Issei asked of us.’

‘It was a misunderstanding from the start, after all, since we didn’t want to make you uncomfortable in the first place.’ agrees Eichi. ‘And that means, we should ask Icchi as well, what you want after-’

‘Meat barbecue, all four of us.’ Ichiru says instantly, not letting Eichi finish his question. He then adds. ‘Please?’

And Shu smiles.

‘You’ve got it.’

Ichiru fistpumps.

‘Alright, so. That’s one thing.’ he then says, turning back to Shu, ignoring his twin's amused smile. ‘And the other?’

‘Ah.’ Shu nods. ‘I just... wanted to hear your opinion on a certain matter that can regard this mission, but I’m not really sure...’

*

The week passed in a blink of an eye, and soon, it was the day.

Eichi and Shu did all they could to reassure them, but this morning, they more or less forced themselves to eat their breakfasts out of reason - who knows when would they get to eat again...

Eichi uses all his magic to lift the mood, and even coaxes smiles out of all of them. They’re wiped off as soon as there’s a ring to the door, though. Shu goes to lead their guest in; to maximize chances of kidnapping, they invented a fake scenario, that involved Shu asking one of his not battle-active Group members to give a tour to the twins around the region predicted to have the highest chance of kidnapping, with twins directly asking to walk past most likely hideouts of the kidnappers. To make it more probable from outside, Shu asked one of members responsible for helping shelter newcomers, unaware of any inner battle forces’ plans.

In other words, the moment they leave dorms, they will once again have to depend on themselves.

Issei unconsciously squeezes the pendant hanging from his neck, before there’s bigger, warm hand wrapping around his. He looks up into Eichi’s eyes.

‘Isse.’ the man then looks next to him. ‘Icchi.’

‘W-We can do this.’ Ichiru says, not even letting either Eichi or Issei voice the doubt, and Eichi smiles.

‘Of course you can. You’re incredible, strong, and intelligent.’ he squeezes their hands gently. ‘But it’s okay to be afraid, okay? At least in front of me.’

Issei looks at him for a long while. Eichi’s smile does not waver.

‘Say, Eichi.’ he finally says, slowly taking man’s hand away from his and unclenching his fist. ‘Can you hold on to it for me? I don’t want to lose it.’

He takes the protective pendant off, and cradles it in his hand for a moment. The tiny thing was his reassurance, his good luck charm, and honestly, a first thing he’s got himself attached to that wasn’t a gift from Ichiru. It felt strange separating from it, but...

He really didn’t want to lose it or have it destroyed, and as a decoy, the possibility of both happening were high... plus, the thing was handmade - not many people had others caring about them enough to study and create a protection charm like this, much less for the grown children like them...

The thought paradoxically calms him down.

Eichi cared. Shu cared, as well. They would come for them.

_He and Ichiru would be alright._

‘Ah, mine, too!’ his younger brother adds, and moments later, Eichi has red and blue pendants offered to him. He accepts them with conflicted expression, before finally saying:

‘I’ll return them to you with an upgrade to mask your status as RP.’

Twins smile at that, and Shu chooses this moment to enter the room with a friendly looking man in tow.

‘This is Kawagusa-san.’ he introduces him, before looking over twins. ‘Ready for your first tour around Tokyo?’

‘Yep.’ Ichiru says, with Issei only nodding his head. Shu smiles, partly reassuring, partly proud.

‘It will be okay.’ he says. ‘Enjoy it. We will get cream puffs after you come back.’

It’s a cover for the sake of Kawagusa-san, mostly, because Issei reads water vibrations Shu created.

_It will be okay. We will come for you. I won't let anything hurt you like that ever again._

‘Alright.’ he smiles.

*

‘I know it was a necessary step and all of us agreed to it, but,’ Eichi groans, ‘I hate seeing them going out alone.’

Shu doesn’t even have to answer at this point.

They are sitting in the living room, their teas untouched, with Eichi nervously fiddling with the protection charms, and when this proved inefficient distraction, standing up and circling around the room. Shu listened to the nervous buzz of water around him. Even if Eichi kept calm, he could sense nervous energy spreading all over Tsukino buildings...

‘Me neither, Eichi.’ he admits, and human sits down heavily. ‘But we can only wait for bad news... which would be actually good.’

He feels bitter aftertaste on the tongue after saying this. Eichi measures him with a glance, before shifting slightly closer.

‘I know.’ he sighs, leaning his head on vampire’s shoulder. ‘Technically, I know it all, but my heart still won’t calm down.’

Shu raises his hand to pat the hair tickling his chin.

‘You grew overprotective... though I definitely am not any better.’ he admits, and Eichi snorts weakly.

‘We’re birds of a feather just as much as these two are, huh.’ he says, and Shu cuts his agreement mid-word. ‘Shu?’

‘The disturbance outside.’ vampire says, head turned towards the window. ‘One of the Foes appeared outside shelter.’

As if to confirm his words, an audio signal, calling for Solids and Soara, went through the Tsukino building.

Against himself, Eichi tenses even more, and, feeling that, Shu puts both of his arms around him.

‘It wil be alright.’ he says reassuringly, and Eichi nods. Like everyone in Tsukino, he also saw the almost melted protections of the training room, and well. It wasn’t like Solids were opposed to helping Quell in training, most of the time. If there were one entity they could confidently say that matched any Puppetmaster in power, it would be Solids.

Only few minutes pass, but then suddenly, Shu stiffens again.

‘This time it’s in the city.’ he says, eyes glazed over. ‘One of my people is... really, really upset.’

And this time, Eichi relaxes, his brain switching to higher gear.

Appearance of a stronger enemy force out on the Field, followed shortly by a disturbance in the city related to Izumi...

‘So it has started.’ human says softly, and it seems to call the vampire holding him back to the ground. Shu looks down at him, before nodding slowly.

‘It seems so.’

They are changed into uniforms and waiting by the time Izumi group defense patrol brings extremely upset Kawagusa-san back to their dorm. The man is ready to drop down onto his knees in front of Shu.

‘Izumi-sama, I have no excuse-! I was careless, I’ve let them out of my sight for just a moment, and- The boys, Issei and Ichiru, they just... disappeared, but they’re too polite to run away, and I knew you were worrying about kidnapping cases, but... I just-’

‘Kawagusa-san.’ Shu interrupts the man gently. ‘I need to also apologize to you. I’ve let you have an unpleasant memory. But, it’s alright.’

Human looks at the High with tears in his eyes. Shu doesn’t smile, but his expression is determined, yet somewhat reassuring.

‘If Issei and Ichiru were kidnapped, we just need to get them back.’ he says, before turning to Eichi. ‘Inform the General-’

Eichi reads his mind, and already reaches for one of the connection glyphs, chorusing the message with Shu.

‘Mission: Fata Morgana is underway.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellloooooooo, we're off and Kubeparents are out for blood of those who dare hurt their children!  
> Next chapter, we finally get into some undercover work, some action, and some Singing, courtesy of our twin boys~!  
> (also, did I paraphrase one of the Hidden Eclipse's lines just for the sake of having it there? Why yes, indeed I did!)  
> Thanks for reading, and probably see you in December! (holy shit, this year practically disappeared before I managed to realize... bless Tsukipro for keeping me occupied)


	11. Blue Fire Crater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This mammoth is the result of my overwhelming need to show the boys as amazing children, while giving some attention to the outsiders preparing for interception. As a result you have some...10k of twins working their butts off and about 1k of their family and friends being worried for, or proud of them.  
> For all who celebrate st.Nicolas' day as a presents day, this is my gift.  
> Enjoy?

By the time he wakes up, his hands are already bound. His body tenses on instinct, even though the second he came to, he remembered everything that transpired in the last few moments before he lost consciou- no. _Was made_ to lose consciousness.

Issei wonders if this is the result of Water Memory, buzzing somewhere within him, a strange yet not unpleasant sensation of being grounded.

Well, it doesn’t matter, for now. There were more important things to consider, like, for example-

‘Ichiru?’

He knew his brother was conscious, their connection as the twins, even cloaked with multitude of techniques both Shu and Eichi helped them master, still buzzed with the other’s awareness, something that didn’t happen when even one of them was asleep.

‘Oh, look, the sleeping prince woke up~’

He can’t help the instinct to flinch, before rapidly turning onto his back- or, well, as quickly as binds on his hands allowed. He never realized how much he relied on his hands until now...

Issei is greeted with the sight of the dark, quite obviously night sky, no trace of the sun on it- granted, it was past noon when they left the dorms, they would be kidnapped by the late afternoon, time when the sky is already darkening, it was possible it was evening by now - and the vampire, staring at him with some kind of amused superiority.

He knows this look too well, and his heart picks up its’ pace, something they definitely will be able to feel.

‘Toya, move away.’ there’s another voice that to him sounds just as cold. ‘We don’t need cargo getting unnecessarily stressed.’

‘Yees, Izushimo-san.’

Ah, first names to remember, Issei notes at the back of his head, his eyes wildly wandering around until he finally, finally, notices Ichiru, just few steps away from him, glaring at the vampires closer to Issei. Behind his little brother, Issei notices two more, a rather big lady and a thin man that would definitely have an easy time blending with the crowd.

They were already overpowered, and they didn’t seem to even be in the actual camp... Issei cannot check too much using his water sensing, but even with his eyes, he can notice that they were at best at the verge of some valley of a kind?

He gets an unsettling feeling, but tries to squash it. No way, even kidnappers wouldn’t bring them to a nest... right?

‘When will we be able to move them to a camp?’ request the big woman and the second speaker from before huffs.

‘Patience, Leannah. Just because I have the database of the children doesn’t mean I can search it all at once.’ the man huffs, and Issei shivers, realizing he, that Izushimo, was the leader, and somehow, possessed intel from the civil council of the shelters.

That was the only group gathering citizen data that could serve to create „children database”.

‘If you’re that impatient, get their names.’ he continues, and Issei freezes, torn between moving towards Ichiru, and checking the face of the man they will have to convict after they get out of this situation... if they get out.

‘Ah, I see! This one will be easy!’ says the voice of that Toya, before Issei feels himself being jerked upwards by the back of his neck, like a young kitten. He probably makes some kind of surprised sound, or maybe something just gets through their connection, enough to say Ichiru jerks in his direction.

‘Issei!’

‘So, this one’s Issei.’ nods Leannah. Ichiru makes surprised face, that instantly morphs to scared frustration.

His brother was hot-blooded, yes, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d know when he was played.

‘And this one is...’

‘Ichiru. Don’t touch him.’ Issei utters, still in the vampire’s grasp, and Toya releases him with a disappointed huff. Issei lands heavily on the ground.

‘Spoiling our fun like that...’ he growls, but, when Issei turns his face to catch other vampire’s face, he can see Izushimo already looking through the information on small device in his hand. He still looks at Issei when he feels twin’s stare on him, and Issei realizes he’s seen those red eyes. But, where Seleas leader’s were shining with amusement and mysterious charm, those spoke only of cold calculation.

‘Issei and Ichiru. This is enough, right?’ Issei says, his voice quiet and halting, like all those times he tried to speak up in the factory. Well, in a way, it was good; the Issei from that time knew only fear and worry, traits no doubt should show up in a child realizing it’s kidnapped...

The device beeps, and crimson eyes look away from him. Issei uses that to turn to Ichiru.

‘Are you okay?’

‘No way I could be okay! You’re hurt!’ Ichiru says fiercely and oh- this tone is also the one he hasn’t used since they’ve met Shu. It carried underlying terror of being torn away from the only person dear to him, and Issei exhales.

‘I’m okay. It’s fine.’

‘No it-’ Ichiru starts, but then his eyes drift past Issei, and in the next moment, he lunges inbetween him and the vampires (he’s always had better mobility than Issei), all of whom seemed to temporarily focus on their leader. Who stared at them, even as he slowly read out the information from the device.

‘Kuga Issei and Ichiru, fourteen years old. No High relation.’ he smirks, pleased. ‘Orphanage from Hokkaido has their data. We’ve hit jackpot. Not only are those two double Rare Prey, fitting the criteria, but they are also orphans. Nobody will care if they disappear, for once.’

_„That’s a lie, though.”_

Issei’s not sure which one of them thought that first, he tries not to show it on his face. It’s easier than he expected, as Toya frowns.

‘Hokkaido?’

Issei stills; will they find it suspicious enough to dig deeper-

The small average looking vampire waves his hand.

‘The guy they were with was from Izumis. They’re not stupid, probably moved them to the main shelter to keep the Group’s blood supply high and running. They don’t have a mark just yet though, so I wouldn’t worry.’

‘Adacchi has a good grasp on those things, so it’s alright~’ the woman sing-songs, already turning to them.

‘It’s not fine!’ snaps Ichiru, and Issei feels hair stand at the back of his neck. What was... ‘What’s going on?! Who are you?! What do you want from us?! Where _even_ are we?!’

He asks them that in a voice that perfectly mixes confusion, anger and fear, and Issei realizes his brother fights through his fear to provoke the vampires to say more, spill more. It was still reckless, and Issei had to act his part to keep it as convincing as possible.

‘Ichiru...’

‘You were taken by us.’ Toya sneers at his little brother and all of Issei muscles tense as the vampire nears him. ‘We’re somebody you don’t want to anger~ You’re also outside of your little safe shelter, so I wouldn’t raise that pretty voice of yours, if you don’t want to meet even scarier things than we are.’

He stands above both twins and Issei unconsciously leans into Ichiru. He doesn’t know what he will be able to do with bound hands and inability to use his water manipulation training, but he just wanted to be close.

‘Now what do we want from you...’ Toya visibly takes pleasure from seeing their fear, and Issei feels like he might get sick from just staying this close to the vampire. ‘There’s a lot of things. Blood, bodies, energy that makes you potent material for the experiment... for now, though, it is to _shut up_.’

Ichiru leans away from him, and into Issei and older twin really hopes it will end here. He’s had a hard time balancing his instinctive reaction at the verge of plausible fear and not panic, but prolonged state like this made his core stir. Vampires around them probably already caught on to its existence, but Issei thought, as long as he can convincingly fake his lack of control on it, he should be fine.

The problem was, his fear was getting the better on his control...

‘Toya. Don’t stress our resources unnecessarily.’ the cold-eyed vampire says. ‘I plan on getting better price for them from Iguro still. Don’t make it harder for me.’

‘They are good payment, though-’ starts Toya, but the girl interrupts him.

‘Toya, Izushimo-san has said something. Besides, think we can manage another action like this?’ she scolds, but somehow, it feels different from Eichi, or even Rikka scolding. It’s colder. ‘Hunters and Backstage forces might be confused with all the inside work of our people in the councils, but it seems people started organizing themselves. I haven’t seen a kid without supervision, or vampire kiddo at their side.’

‘Those two also weren’t alone, and look where they are.’ Toya shrugs. ‘It’s not a big deal if some short-fangers have decided to play good characters, humans will turn against them anyway.’

Issei stills the shiver. So, Tsukino’s suspicions were confirmed, and they not only had a spy within councils, but also kidnappers who used human-vampire conflict within shelters to their advantage...

‘Stop yapping.’ sharply says fourth vampire, and Ichiru and Issei instinctively move closer to each other. The vampire, however, just turns to his leader. ‘Izushimo-san, can we move the new cargo to the camp?’

The red-eyed vampire seemed to briefly skim his information about the twins again, before nodding shortly.

‘They will not have two cages prepared, but that’s not a problem.’ he looks at two humans huddled close by. ‘Consider it our good will, boys, and don’t cause trouble.’

Issei looks on, Ichiru glares, but they remember Toya’s previous hiss, and keep quiet. Izushimo nods once, and seconds later, Issei once again can feel hands pulling him up, and away from Ichiru.

‘Isse-!’

‘Not only him~’ Leannah sing-songs, effortlessly tugging Ichiru to his feet. ‘Get a move if you don’t want to get hurt... ah, though it might be too late for that now, you smell pretty good...’

‘Leannah. Behave.’ Izushimo scolds, but Issei can feel his eyes on himself. ‘You know not to cause trouble or you will get some blood out of you, right?’

Issei nods slowly. Izushimo huffs.

‘Then keep your brother under control, too.’ with that, he makes a gesture, and Ichiru and Issei are more or less pulled away, deeper into the valley.

*

They are thrown into cage - a literal cage - so small they barely had enough space to lay down without touching each other. Not that it was a problem for them, but they relax slightly only when the door is closed, bar is put over it, and the vampires walk away, discussing one thing or another. Issei tries to catch all the names that are thrown around in the conversation, but eventually, he cannot hear anything substantial anymore, not above the quiet sobs and soft moans from the cages set near them.

Ichiru puts their foreheads together and breathes.

‘So far so good?’

Issei nods softly. Water Memory was buzzing inside him, a familiar weight he couldn’t really pinpoint, but was definitely aware of. They were abducted in the afternoon, but now the day changed well into the night, and stars and moon both shined over them. He reaches inside himself, under the covers hiding true potential of their cores, and their connection - just in case.

_„How do you feel?”_

_„Isn’t that my line? I’m ok, they just jerked me around a bit. You, on the other side...”_

_„I’m also ok. Memory is working fine, and beyond few bruises, I should be fine. But, that lesser vampire did say she senses you...”_

_„Maybe I have a small scratch somewhere on my shoulder.”_ Ichiru reluctantly admits. _„It’s nothing big though! At least not now when we know we’re...”_

_„Right.”_

Cargo. Goods. Ordered material to create... something. Issei prefers not to think what that something was, considering the relation of the kidnapping to the Field reports, that they confirmed just recently.

For now, they need to focus on figuring out their position, and if they are where they hoped to be, Issei would have to find a good place to start creating matrix of the water manipulation that will become their signal.

‘Do you see something?’ he asks, and Ichiru slightly raises his head, looking around.

‘Cages.’ he reports quietly. ‘Behind them... some buildings. They look ruined though.’

Issei exhales. So, an abandoned village, not a nest.

‘There are mountain walls, further behind.’ Ichiru lays back down. ‘It looks like a very good hideout. Hard to get out of, too.’

He knew Ichiru added that last part in just in case somebody was listening in on them - what two kidnapped kids can talk about, if not finding the way to get out?

He copies his brother’s movement, but sees the exact same thing, with addition of a road going uphill, towards some storehouses maybe. He counts cages, before laying down.

‘It seems we’re really trapped in the middle.’ he says loudly, while simultaneously reaching inside himself.

_„Ichiru, how many cages have you spotted?”_

_„I think six? Some were going up above our heads, so I didn’t want to...”_

_„I saw six, too. They’re probably set up in a circle, so...”_ Issei tries to estimate the number. _„If the space between them is the same everywhere, we can assume it’s twenty cages set in the circle.”_

 _„Only twenty? But, the number of children was...”_ Issei nods to Ichiru’s protest.

 _„But, there were decoys among them.”_ he answers, and Ichiru opens mouth in quiet realization. _„They are probably kept elsewhere.”_

Ichiru’s face shows frustration.

_„So, we don’t know the position of five children?”_

_„Yes, but at least three of them were Soul Spirit Users.”_ Issei looks as Ichiru convincingly whines, shifting uncomfortable. He puts their foreheads close to each other again, pretending to „settle” Ichiru down. _„I should be able to sense them, unless...”_

 _„They are not here.”_ Ichiru leans a bit closer to him and blinks. _„What about the barrier?”_

Issei frowns softly.

 _„I... I think I remember passing past it.”_ he admits and Ichiru’s eyes widen, as Issei lets him experience the same sensation.

 _„Feels strange.”_ his brother comments. _„Like water, but... bad?”_

 _„Sticky.”_ Issei agrees. _„But, because we’re inside of it, I should be able to feel everything that’s inside of it. And if they set another barrier to cut decoys off, I should also be able to feel it.”_

 _„Will it be okay?”_ Ichiru asks dubiously. _„Will_ you _be okay?”_

Issei knew what he meant. Just few months ago, he struggled with keeping a sphere Shu would create without spilling, and now he was going to do a wide-scale water scan, on top of creating a signal matrix?

 _„We need to know where they are. Get in contact with them, so that the vampires don’t instantly realize it’s us who send that signal.”_ Issei points out. _„And I’m not doing it alone.”_

 _„Right.”_ Ichiru smiles at him nervously. _„Let me know when you need the power up!”_

Issei smiles back.

_„Got it. For now, I’ll start with a scan, but keep an eye on the outside?”_

*

He manages to figure out two potential hiding spots where the vampires can keep the decoys within an hour, Ichiru’s steady stream of power letting him keep the search going even though his own reserves weren’t nearly as vast. There are two places within the borders of the barrier- or maybe Void, he wasn’t sure - that don’t give any kind of answer to his prompting, meaning that either they were completely dry, or there was yet again something preventing the water inside of it from responding to him.

Issei hoped at least one of those was the latter case.

They need to stop their preparations for a bit, when the vampires start feeding of the cargo.

It’s another show meant for terrorizing them, they are sure of that.

When the vampires move inbetween the cages, both twins stiffen on instinct, stopping themselves from raising barriers at the last moment, before the female passing their cage can sense something is wrong. Shu’s training focused on defense. Creating protection, and reflecting their opponents’ attacks, all of that done with as little delay as possible. At this point, they were nearing speed of Shu’s skills, but only thanks to their muscle-memory, which now was backfiring as they should NOT be able to do that.

Issei carefully looks around, and upon noticing only the vampire with red eyes looks at them, he quickly moves to look in the direction where the voices rose, near cages behind Ichiru’s back.

‘Issei? What’s going on?’ Ichiru asks out loud, and Issei decides to answer in the same kind. Using their connection made them appear quiet from outside, which in this case wasn’t such a desired effect.

‘They...’ he swallows. ‘They take out children. Two? And bind them together, but only at one side. Like in a three-legged race, but their hands are also... ah. One of them is much younger than the other, he’s weaker; the girl needs to help him walk.’

He swallows again. He doesn’t tell Ichiru the girl is unusually pale, and that, now that he had an excuse to look, every other child looked similar.

He makes a quiet gasp as the boy, seemingly their age, growls at the passing vampires, then flinches as one of them slams a bat against bars of his jail. The flinch revealed angry marks on the junction of his shoulder and neck, that Issei had only one suspicion about the cause of them.

‘Issei?’ Ichiru asks quietly, and older twin feels touch between his collarbones. ‘If you can’t, I will look.’

‘No.’ Issei whispers back, carefully lowering his chin onto his brother’s head. In normal circumstances, they would be already hugging for dear life, but right now their hands were still slowly numbing away behind them. Feeling his brother’s breath this close to him had to be enough. ‘I can do it.’

He knew Ichiru was right, that the information Ichiru gathered and sent to him through their connection were also recorded by Water Memory. That meant, he didn’t have to look. But, the alternative was that Ichiru would have to look, and he didn’t want that. Ichiru was already scared and worried, and he was Issei’s little brother, by minutes, but still. He needed to protect him, because Ichiru would rather protect Issei instead. Always had.

This was how they went through life until now, this was how they would manage to get through this situation as well.

_We’ll be there for you._

Issei’s lip twitches.

And at the end of this mess, they have people waiting for them to return. To celebrate together. Live together. Be happy together.

He had to watch to have them gain that happy ending.

The bitten boy wasn’t left alone. Vampire opened his cage, and grasped his shoulder, pulling him out.

Issei can feel Ichiru’s inhale against his chest; he was unable to loudly say everything that happened behind his twin’s back, so they once again connected mentally. That means, both of them were aware of how painful it had to be for that boy, and how brutal it was, that the vampire did it, while children bound together watched from just a few steps away, seemingly frozen in place.

The boy doesn’t cry, doesn’t moan in pain. In fact, he actually tries to put up a fight, albeit it’s barely visible because of the difference in powers between a rested vampire and constantly weakened child...

‘What it will be today?’ vampire asks, bat on the ground, but individual not any less dangerous, as he grins at the boy half his size, fangs shining eerily in the night light. ‘Losing food or blood?’

Somehow, the boy is not frozen by fear, and he looks towards their cage. Issei catches his eyes, just for a second, and his memory suddenly supplies him with the info of the victim he looks at.

_„Kagiyama Yuma, age thirt- actually, fourteen now. Kidnapped days before his birthday. Ren-san’s student.”_

‘You’ll include new ones into it.’ he announces, and his voice is even, if high, suitable for their age. ‘Blood, not that you’d have even a chance to get it, if you had an ounce of honor.’

Vampire laughs, as if Yuma has said something really amusing, and the boy’s face scrunches in anger. Issei, though, can see beneath that; Ichiru did this all of their childhood, too.

Angry expression was supposed to mask fear.

‘What can a human know about honor?’

‘And who cares if I’m human.’ Yuma hisses, and Issei has a feeling this is something he’s been repeating every day since he’s been captured. ‘You’re just scums above scums, among humans _and_ vampires.’

‘Oooh, so scary.’ vampire mocks, then pushes Yuma off balance, and into another female vampire, standing next to the bound children. They yelp, but their guard elegantly catches bigger boy in almost caring hug, hand in his hair and pulling his head to the side. ‘Irina, your turn. Make sure not to drain him completely, we still need him. Brats, get a move on!’

Children startled, almost drop the bag thrown at him, but after initial fumbling they grasp it and slowly move to the first cage.

Yuma doesn’t scream, but they still almost drop the bag when female bites into the boy behind them, and teenager releases some kind of whimper.

Issei feels his blood changing into ice, but he can’t look away from the scene in front of him.

Vampires were doing it to everyone? Will they do it to them? To Ichiru?

‘Irina.’ there’s imperious voice from just next to their cage, and both Issei and Ichiru gasp in surprise, but the vampire completely ignores them. ‘Keep him conscious. I don’t want to have to get into city for the new kid as strong as this one.’

‘But, Izushimo-san.’ female vampire tears her mouth from boy’s neck. ‘We were told to break them all before the transfer, right? And this one’s still-’

‘Enough.’ Izushimo cuts her off, and Issei once again feels ice, this time tingling his skin, as the man releases just a bit of his power.

He definitely was a High.

‘If you cannot look through just this kid’s facade, you’re really useless.’ Izushimo continues. ‘Get him back into cage. Feed him last. This is enough.’

He turns, and Issei freezes, vampire’s stare was pinning him to the ground with amount of distaste and some kind of... hatred?

He slowly squats next to their cage and Issei’s muscles tense on instinct, as he tries to wrap himself more fully around Ichiru, in some surreal fear that, if the man’s eyes fall over his twin, they will get torn apart, Ichiru will get hurt and-

Vampire smirks, visibly pleased with his scared reaction.

‘That’s what happens when you go against us.’ he says, and his voice probably is supposed to be pleasant, but all Issei can hear is threat. ‘You will keep being good boys, we keep away from you. One of you, at least. You know what happens if you don’t.’

He points behind himself, where Yuma is thrown back into his cage, shaking. Issei doesn’t know if it’s from pain, fear, or anger. He slowly looks back at the vampire.

‘Why you’re doing this?’ he whispers, feeling like all of his blood flows away from his face.

He was terrified, but he wasn’t just going to accept this feeling without getting something back. Information, preferably. ‘What did we do?’

‘You were in wrong place at wrong time.’ answer woman - Irina - coming and squatting next to the High. Issei can see slight frown on Izushimo’s face. ‘That’s your mistake, pretty boys. As for what we need you for - well, you’ll be a weapon to destroy this pretty candy world cut-fangers imagined inside-’

‘Irina, enough.’ snaps Izushimo, and the other vampire clamps her mouth shut with a playful wink in their direction.

It’s almost grotesque in contrast with her lips, still red from leftover blood.

‘Uncle over there doesn’t think you need to know anything, so let’s all keep quiet for this short while you have left, okay? So that we don’t need to hurt you~’ she finishes cheerfully, standing up, and Issei feels shivers go down his spine. It’s a miracle how Ichiru didn’t snap just yet, out of pure fear they feel.

‘Obviously, you forgot about the mole we dug up just last week, didn’t you.’ Izushimo says, but Issei knows those words are no longer directed at them, but the other vampire. ‘It’s because of such irresponsible blabbering next to the cargo is why I have to sustain two Voids. Put yourself in my shoes a bit.’

‘Oh, our poor High patron, all tired by the baby humans.’ Irina jokes, and Issei sees twitching of the other man’s hand, as if he was keeping himself from punching his companion. ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry~ after we complete this transport, we won’t see each other again! So, you won’t have to scrunch your noble nose at us lesser vampires near you. Speaking of which, how is the contact-’

‘We’ll talk about it once you finish with feeding the cargo.’ cuts in the other vampire, before looking back, and Issei curls under that stare. ‘Skip those two.’

Issei doesn’t even sense a speck of will in either of them to protest. He knows it’s meant to weaken them, but submerged in fear like just now, he cannot bring himself to care about food right now.

Bless Eichi’s breakfast, he finds himself thinking irrationally.

At least twelve hours had to pass since that meal...

‘Issei?’ Ichiru’s voice shakes him out of his musings. ‘Are you okay?’

‘He suspects us.’ Issei answers so softly even vampires would struggle with catching his words. But, Ichiru wans’t a vampire, he was his brother, connected with him closer than anybody on this world. ‘We need to hurry.’

Ichiru just nods, shifting to once again lay face to face with his twin. They still once a pair of children employed for feeding other captives is rushed past them. Issei catches a reflection of tears on younger boy’s face. He looks up at the stars, and Ichiru mirrors his action. While the cage had solid roof, they still could see the sky if they looked just slight to the side.

Their namegivers shine brightly, together with the moon, still raising on the east side of the sky. In an hour or two, it should climb to the peak, shining so bright it will brighten the night almost enough to see clearly without enhancement to their sight. And while Issei knew those coming to their aid don’t need the natural light, he decides to send the sign up on that brightest moment of the night.

He doesn’t need to form his thoughts, Ichiru understands and agrees with him even without it.

They turn back to each other.

‘We will start once only guards remain.’ Issei whispers, and Ichiru nods.

*

‘So, it really was Void.’ Tsubasa muses, watching uneven, shimmering panorama of a mountains in front of them. Rikka shifts in place, nervous glance now and then travelling to the other mixed pair at their side. Tsubasa notices it. ‘Worried?’

‘I’d be scared of who I became, if I wasn’t worried.’ vampire answers, and Tsubasa hums in agreement. ‘I mean- they’re children, Tsubasa. It feels as if I was once again watching this memory of Dai, only now it’s worse, because I don’t know it’s in the past-’

‘Rikka.’ Tsubasa stands in front of the vampire. ‘You’re really worrying too much.’

Rikka releases a stressed out laugh.

‘Easy of you to say, you managed to stop the worst from happening in a similar situation.’

Tsubasa ‘oh’s, before pulling Rikka into a hug.

‘You’ve stopped thousand worse things from happening, too.’ he says quietly. ‘And I know we will stop the worst from happening there, as well.’

‘I hope so.’ Rikka whispers, returning hug. ‘You haven’t seen Shu during Great Tragedy; I don’t think he will survive losing his Singers. I wouldn’t forgive myself, either. Those two are too precious. To all of us, but to Shu and Eichi especially.’

Tsubasa risks a look at half of Quell. Shu’s shoulders are tense, but his hand grasps at Eichi’s firmly. Human at his side seems to have his focus on the wretched barrier separating them from their younger team members.

‘That’s why I’m sure.’ he answers his own Unitmate. ‘That they will get back together. And once they do, nothing will separate them.’

Rikka smiles at him, as Tsubasa softly adds.

‘I won’t let anything separate them.’

‘You’re a treasure, Tsubasa.’ Rikka answers softly, pecking his cheek quietly. ‘Let me check at our counterparts, and then let’s move into positions together?’

Tsubasa grins at him.

‘You’re precious, too, Rikka.’ vampire just laughs softly.

*

They make a mistake only after creating a matrix.

Issei honestly couldn’t believe how well it was going until then, but he still feels his heart raising to his throat, when he feels cold sensation of Izushimo’s power sweeping over them, localizing them.

And it was just a momentary startle, too, just a second of slipped attention that resulted in them manipulating water around them. Just as he finished the matrix and its’ covering, with vast help from Ichiru, too...

‘What do we do?’ Ichiru whispers, as they catch the sound and energy of the High rushing towards them.

Issei looks around the camp. He can see guards straightening up after sensing their leader, or well, their High, approaching, but most children are immobile, succumbed to uneasy, restless sleep...

Sleep.

He looks into Ichiru’s eyes. It was ridiculous, dangerous, even, but they had no chance of escaping, their hands still bound, and limbs stiff from the restricted positions. Not to mention, despite the brightness of it, night was naturally a time for vampires. They wouldn’t outrun them, not to mention, if they released the sign, they would be exposed. They’d need to fight against a High and his cohorts, without any support, and they still didn’t even locate other decoys. They knew most people just expected them to find a main camp and pinpoint its’ localization with a sign, but something in them argued against leaving even one child, no matter how well trained, after what they saw with Yuma...

So, there was only one solution they could afford now, and they exhale like one, before closing their eyes, and diving deep into their connection, hiding underneath all the covers Eichi and Shu taught them.

They manage to use it to still their hearts enough to appear to be unsettled just by a bad dream, by the time they hear first calls through their ears, and not senses trained by Shu helping them learn to localize High vampires for their safety.

Issei is fully aware that pretending to sleep when someone is probably out to get you is a ridiculous tactic. That it will probably leave them at a complete mercy of the vampires.

But, specifically because of that, it could work. No trained spy, after judging the pros and cons, would decide on it, especially if there were two of them. The more plausible action for somebody trained was to cause a ruckus, to task one of the spies with distracting the attackers, while the other slips out, but.

He was not leaving Ichiru. Ichiru was not leaving him.

Even if they might get separated soon, and the thought makes them simultaneously press their foreheads closer together, Ichiru pushing just a little more energy into Issei, a preemptive action to make him able to keep Water Memory up and going even if they get split.

They jump as there’s a sound of something hitting bars of their cage, shaking the whole construction, and they tense, jerking upwards, but before they are able to do more, at least two sets of arms tug at each of them.

‘Wha-!’

Ichiru is better at acting startled than Issei is, he cannot manage anything beyond a weak yelp.

‘What’s going on-’

‘You!’ hisses a voice above him, and Issei feels primal, instinctive urge to run, to hide, as red eyes dig into him, anger and fury mixing with previous dismay. ‘It was you!’

‘Issei!’ Ichiru’s voice sounds scared and confused, and in the back of his mind, he tries not to think it shouldn’t be this easy for his little brother to act like that. ‘What the heck you want from- ngh!’

Issei feels his blood freeze, before starting to burn, as he feels through their connection what happened.

_Vampire hit Ichiru, so hard his brother fell to the ground._

‘Ichiru!’ he tries to jerk forward, but hands grip his arms and shoulders. Another, ice cold one, grips back of his neck. Against himself, he whimpers, but even then, his focus is still on Ichiru. ‘Ichi-’

‘You’re the spies, aren’t you?’ hisses the voice above him, and grip on his neck strengthens. ‘You came into our camp to spy and get short-fangers informed...’

‘You were the ones who kidnapped us.’ Ichiru spits from the ground. ‘As if somebody wanted to be abducted by the sickos like you!’

Shu instructed them to speak at least half-truths if they ever get interrogated by the High, because they had an apt ability to read from human’s tone and body language. Ichiru was following that to a t, by using both the generalized truths and statements that were applying for them, yet not exposing their true agenda.

‘Shut it!’ roars the vampire behind Issei, passing the boy to another one. ‘You were the only ones added to the cargo since yesterday-’

‘You added us.’ Issei says, and he is sure his voice conveys much more fear than confusion, but he hopes it would still convince vampires. ‘We did not enter your camp voluntarily.’

‘That means nothing.’

Issei can catch Izushimo staring from next to them, calming down, and looking slowly between the two of them.

‘Twins have that special connection, I hear.’ he says slowly, and a bile grows in Issei’s throat. He knows that tone.

Wanderers chasing them always used it.

Izushimo seemingly makes a decision, because he looks down at Issei, but motions for the vampire behind Ichiru.

‘I wonder if you will give it up for the sake of protecting undercover work.’

‘We aren’t spies.’ Issei says slowly, making sure all sounds sound true. They weren’t spies, they were members of a Field Unit. Defense Field Unit. ‘I have nothing but Ichiru to protect.’

‘I wonder about that.’ Izushimo curiously tilts his head, but cruelty is still in his red eyes. ‘Your core is water, and I’m ice. I can sense your core working, you know?’

‘Core? Water? Ice?’ Issei blinks, keeping his act despite shaking that threatens to spread to his limbs at any moment now, and Izushimo straightens his head.

‘Maaybe you did it unconsciously.’ he says lazily. ‘But that doesn’t clear you out. I’m sure though, I’ve said that if you don’t behave, we will take care of you?’

With that he motions again, and Issei can only look as the vampire once again pins Ichiru to the ground, despite his brother’s struggling, and leans over him.

‘Ichiru!’ Issei jerks against himself, but it only strengthens the grip on his arms. Ichiru is pulled up, so that they would be face to face, if the vampire behind his little brother wasn’t pulling Ichiru’s head by his hair, grinning, as if causing pain to a fourteen year old was the funniest past-time he’s had in years. ‘Let him go, please!’

He’s not beyond begging for his twin.

‘You’re the one who can make him let go, though?’ Izushimo says deceivingly sweet, vampire above Ichiru nodding, not hiding his fangs. ‘Just start saying the truth. Who send you? Who wants to infiltrate us? How they knew how to throw us another bomb?’

‘What the hell is that...’ Ichiru groans, and Izushimo impatiently motions for the vampire to once again pin Issei’s brother to the ground, to keep him quiet. Ichiru struggles back, despite obvious warning signs of pain that Issei can feel, even though their connection is hidden under all those layers they stacked upon it for security. ‘Issei...’

He hesitates. Ichiru in front of him suffers, but if he caves in, how are they supposed to crack the traffickers? And if he says something, won’t they get somehow cut off from the signal, making all of the mission a failure? Even if Shu and the rest of the forces breach the Void, the terrain protected by it was so vast, vampires definitely will manage to escape before the search party arrives...

Izushimo still looks at him with cruel satisfaction in his eyes, sure to get confirmation he needs to erase them, take them wherever he took the other decoys. Issei cannot find his voice for a good moment.

‘I...’ he finally starts, but then Ichiru speaks up, still fighting against hand pressing him into the ground.

‘Issei, don’t!’ then, before anybody can stop him, he continues. ‘You know lying to vampires never work, we’ve tried it so many times before!’

They catch eye contact; it’s only for a split second, but that’s enough for Issei to catch on to what his brother is trying to do.

‘But- Ichiru.’ he puts as much whine as he thinks will sound naturally into his voice, letting real tremble join it. His core answers with uncontrollable shaking, and he even catches Izushimo's stare moving to Issei’s chest, just for a second. ‘They don’t believe it anyway, and if I don’t- you’ll get more hurt.’

There’s air of confusion around them, and Issei secretly holds his breath; was it-?

Ichiru’s hair are released with a disappointed huff as Izushimo gives some kind of sign to the other vampire. Issei would have sighed in relief and rushed to his brother’s side, had he not been held in an iron grip still.

‘Even if it’s true, the brats shouldn’t be together, after all.’ his captor says, and Izushimo nods, seemingly losing his interest in the two boys. Vampire behind him starts pulling Issei away from Ichiru. ‘This one seems more suspicious, so I’m throwing him in with the rest of little birds, alright, Izushimo-san?’

‘What? No!’ Issei would have laughed at the fact both he and Ichiru decided to play up their unwillingness of separation in the exact same vocal way; as it was, he tried to struggle convincingly without seriously hurting himself (which wasn’t easy, since his heart kept crying for Ichiru, even though, for the plan, this was the absolute best result they could hope for). Izushimo looks between them, and something akin to a sadistic smile plays on his lips as he nods.

‘That, yes.’ hisses the man above him and Issei unconsciously whimpers at the iron grip. They were taking revenge for the "false alarm" the twins caused, no doubt.

‘Don’t damage him! Problematic goods are still goods!’ calls the one keeping Ichiru pinned to the ground - it’s only now that Issei can see it was Toya. Ichiru twists his head just for a second, to catch eye contact with Issei, and that’s how they silently pass a wish of good luck to each other, before they are separated.

*

He is thrown into what looks like a small storeroom with only one tiny window high on its roof. The ground is hard wood, but he still notices it’s ventilated well, and realizes presence of other people only thanks to the spatial points around him still working as they should, even with Ichiru away from him. He wonders how long it will last, and tries not to think about the possibility of being separated for longer than they trained for, back at Tsukino. He confirms his suspicions before his instinctive shyness kicks in.

‘Who is in there?’ he asks softly.

‘People as miserable as you. Relax.’ answers somebody from the direction of the lonely beam of moonlight. Issei breathes in and out, slowly, before looking around.

‘How many?’

‘With you six, but why you need to-’ the second voice trails off, as its’ owner figures out.

‘You’re-’

‘Fourteen.’ Issei quickly intercepts, shaking his head and tilting it back, hoping that other people in the room have eyes used to darkness more than his are right now.

‘Right.’ the next voice is melodious. ‘Poor thing, don’t move. I’m gonna release your hands, since that’s something they don’t care about, now that you’re inside of here.’

Issei nods, and there are long fingers gently touching around his wrists. He is instantly reminded of Eichi.

So, definitely a Support member. He was in the right place.

‘So, what date it is, since our hosts-’ the new voice spats the word with venom, making Issei flinch. His wrists are released and he moves them in front of himself, trying to get the circulation back to normal, even as he nods to the slim girl coming from behind him. ‘-don’t seem to care about informing us?’

‘It was second week of October when we- when I got kidnapped?’ he tries to maintain the confused tone while thinking how to convey the information he needed to get. He runs through the profiles of the captured decoys in his head. Unconsciously, he moves his hands in a familiar pattern.

_Can you understand?_

There’s a deep inhale from close next to him. The beam of light is showing only part of her face, but Issei can swear it’s the girl that released his wrists. She blinks and moves her hands quickly, while covering her gasp with some minor excuse.

‘You want to tell me I’ve missed my own birthday? No way, that’s the worst.’

Her hands spoke a different story.

_I can. Are you one of us?_

‘I’m sorry.’ Issei says distractedly, hands having a conversation of their own, while he nods.

_I’m Tsukino Pro Kuga Issei. We’re infiltrating with my brother to position the main camp properly and gather intel info._

She nods and makes a sign he doesn’t know, but suddenly others are starting to hold loud and mostly meaningless conversation, and Issei realizes she asked for cover.

_Muramachi Shizuka from the Muramachi clan of Etou’s domain. We all are there for the same reason as you, but we got cut off. Are you-?_

_My brother is still outside._

_Little brother?_ Shizuka looks concerned, but Issei quickly adds on.

_We can still connect to each other._

As if to confirm his statement, their link pulled at Issei’s consciousness.

_„Issei, are you okay? It seemed rough.”_

_„I’m okay, Ichiru. I’ve found other decoys.”_

He can feel his brother shifting even though he doesn’t see him.

_„Ichiru. What happened to you?”_

_„Got few threats, then got thrown back to our old cage. I pretended to be miserable so that they would leave me be._ ” Ichiru sends, despite both of them knowing they needed very little pretending for that particular act. _„I took your side.”_

Issei lowers his hands and his speaker stills hers, watching him.

 _„Where I am to you right now?”_ he can feel his brother at his back, some five hundred meters away, but he needed more concrete point of reference.

Ichiru considers for a moment.

_„As I lay on my back, to my left, a bit over my shoulder. Uhhh, one o’clock?”_

Issei smiles softly.

 _„Correct.”_ he senses somebody approaching his brother. _„Make sure they won’t discover you.”_

„ _I know.”_ Ichiru curls, Issei can feel his muscles moving as he pulls his knees to his chest.

From experience he knows his brother looks incredibly powerless in that position, and it was perfect for their situation. He dims their connection, making sure to cover it even more, now that he knew vampires would be especially wary around Ichiru. He’s distracted by the movement in front of him.

_What happened?_

_My brother localized us._ He considers for a while. _We’re northeast from the camp where they keep rest of the kidnapped children._

_We should get out and get to them._

_Before that._ Issei intercepts, noticing that four other young people gathered behind the girl. Two of them were bickering absent-mindedly, but almost all of them were looking between the girl -Shizuka- and himself. _Can you tell me everything you remember?_

 _Why? We’ll report it ourselves._ She seems baffled. Issei wonders if he has enough vocabulary to explain himself.

_I’m a... support? Reserve?_

_Backup?_

_Yes. I have good memory, and in current situation nobody can influence reports. I’ll lock them? With water. Listening, like a recording crystal, but alive._

_What’s the plan afterwards?_ she asks, after quietly conspiring with other decoys, before one of them directed the loud talk exactly in the direction Issei wanted it to go.

_We send a signal. Well, my brother does, I left a matrix in the very center of the camp, he can send it alone. But, I want to send a signal from there too._

_As a decoy._

_As a decoy._ Issei agrees. _And when that happens, we will be in danger._

_We can protect ourselves._

_I... I can’t. Ichiru will be in danger._

_Ichiru?_

_My brother._ He then realizes what went missing in the conversation. _We’re twins._

 _‘_ Twins? _’_ she whispers and suddenly, the boy, with brown hair and blue eyes, gasps, before lowering himself to whisper into Shizuka’s ear furiously.

 _Ari asks here if you recognize his sign._ she nods an okay, and the boy shows Issei inside of his wrist.

Just the sight of tiny Wa makes Issei’s features relax.

 _You’re one of the Izumis?_ he mouths the last word, and the boy nods, recognition filling his eyes.

‘Quell.’ he whispers, and Issei nods. ‘You’re Shu-sama’s Singer.’

 _We both are. Shu saved us._ Issei signs, giving Shizuka time to explain quietly to her neighbour. Who nods and gives others some kind of sign that makes- Issei finally can see clearly- three other occupants in the room relax visibly. Two voices for trusting Issei seemed to make it easier for them to take orders from a younger- he thinks- boy.

‘If Shu-sama is involved then-’

Shizuka hushes Ari, and Issei signs quickly, while others talk over the boy with some random gossip.

_There are still vampires outside. And we will have to distract them for few moments after the sign goes up, since the forces are behind the barrier surrounding the camp. It’s a bit away._

_How do you know?_ Shizuka asks, frowning. _We all were knocked out._

 _We were too, but... I’m backup. This is the same reason I know._ Issei tries to explain without really understanding it himself _._

_How you can maintain contact with your brother? This place cuts us off from our powers._

Issei blinks.

_Even your Inner... ghost?_

Shizuka smiles, before showing him a sign for spirit. Then, she nods.

_Yes, my Spirit too. That’s why I’m asking._

_We’re not sure either. Just- most twins who are trained to fight have it. The connection._ Issei frowns and his hand flails in exasperation. _Sorry, I’ll try to explain once we get out. Not enough words now._

 _Alright_. she seems to accept his answer for now. _Do you need to hear our stories again?_

_No, I just needed to have them said where my ears can catch them. We need to think of how to get out of here._

_That, we have covered._ Shizuka points to the wall behind one of the boys and all of them grin in the darkness, even as she starts her story on how she was caught and treated by the vampires before and after she was uncovered as the mole. _We have made a door that will open only from the inside._

She looks smug and Issei decides to believe her, even as the wooden boards she pointed at look very sturdy and very much blocking their way still.

_Weapons?_

_We have none._ She frowns. _But if our powers return, it won’t be a problem._

Issei nods slowly. He wonders what are things Support members can’t do (if there are such things at all), when Ichiru once again reaches out to him, a sense of urgency mixed with panic.

_„Issei, they want to move us tonight!”_

‘Eh?’ he says that aloud, eyes widening. _„What do you mean?”_

_„I just listened in on two vampires, they said to prepare cages for the transport, and in the early morning we’ll go!”_

_„Ichiru.”_ Issei tries to calm his brother down, even when his brain starts working on the highest gear, as he simultaneously conveys the message to his inmates, and thinks of a best plan of action. _„Do you think they knew you could hear them?”_

_„Huh?”_

_„If they did, they could say that so that you uncover yourself.”_

_„Ugh.”_ he can feel Ichiru calming down considerably as he ponders for a bit. _„I had my back to them, and their voices carried away from me. I just caught it because one of them was complaining loudly about the short time-”_

 _„What’s going on. Ichiru?”_ he asks, his own breathing speeding up against himself when his brother abruptly cuts himself off. They were nearing the hour and half apart, the longest they ever been, and he was starting to feel the effects of sustaining Water Memory and cloaking without his brother’s touch to support him. On top of that, abruptness of Ichiru’s cutting off...

 _„They’re moving the cages onto wagons, Issei.”_ Ichiru says, and this time, there’s anger, not panic. _„Two cages per wagon and as soon as it’s loaded, it goes away from where you are.”_

Issei bites his lip, not noticing how Shizuka translates what he signs to her to the rest of the spies.

 _„The earth’s shaking even when they disappear from my sight, so they definitely aren’t stopping.”_ Ichiru reports. _„They... your matrix, Issei. I need to send the signal now, or they will take the kids away!”_

 _„Ichiru, wait, without distraction-”_ Issei starts, but Ichiru interrupts him.

_„I know they’ll know it’s me, but they... the children, Issei. They’re crying, for their parents. They have families.”_

Issei tries not to let his brother’s words affect him too much, but it’s hard. As a person currently separated from his only blood relative, even if they can still freely communicate, he gets the fear Ichiru describes to him. There’s a touch to his hands and he startles, part of his feelings getting transferred to Ichiru.

_„Issei?!”_

Shizuka looks at him from much closer than before, and smiles, before letting go of his hands to sign.

_It’s okay. Send the sign. We’ll be the decoys._

Issei stares at her, then at Ari, positioned just near the weakened wall, grasping it, ready to dislodge it, then at a bulky teen posed in front of the door through which Issei got thrown in, and two more boys, each at the opposite wall, posed as if ready to slam into it, and he realizes what they want to do. His hands blur with the speed.

_It’s dangerous!_

_More than what you need to do?_ rhetorically asks Shizuka, before smiling and flicking her hair away in a very bidrlike fashion. _Don’t worry, swallows are hard to catch once they spread their wings. Just focus on the signal and getting to your brother._

Issei looks at her with deep respect, before nodding and reaching out to Ichiru again.

_„Ichiru, position the head of the sign in the direction wagons go. Start filling the matrix, but let it fly only after I’ll tell you to, okay?”_

_„Issei?”_

_„We have allies.”_ he says, following gentle lead of Shizuka, directing him to stand next to her in front of the wall.

‘Ready, boys?’ she whispers in the darkness, and Issei realizes she was their leader from the start.

‘Yes, ma’am!’ they whisper shout and she smiles.

‘Then best of luck to all of us and may the ancient Spirit be with us.’ She nods to Ari, and Issei realizes the rustle he hears isn’t actually an audible sound - it’s the sensation of a Soul Spirit User taking all cloaking off of her Soul. There’s a cackle from outside.

‘Not going to help you, little human, even with all the power you ha-’ Shizuka gives a sign and the boy near the door bodyslams into them, cutting the vampire guard off. ‘Goddamn beast!’

One of the other two boys shout, the other curses, before they start calling encouragements towards their „beast”, with their bodies mimicking slams of the changed animal struggling in the shallow space.

In the meantime, Ari presses his face into the wall on the opposite side of the warehouse- Issei realizes he must be observing the outside.

_„Issei, what’s going on?! There are vampires coming from where you are, loading stopped, they are calling for support-”_

_„Get the signal ready Ichiru, then try to free yourself. We’re going to distract as many of them as we can, I’m heading your way as soon as I get out of here. Don’t let them touch you, okay?_ ” He adds softly, even as Ari in front of him inhales sharply then pulls at the back wall, just as the vampires start banging at the front of the warehouse, probably taking the blockades that kept the door there closed off after they threw Issei in. Shizuka closes her eyes for a second before turning to Issei.

‘Get out right after me, go in the opposite direction as soon as we get out. Then run.’ she orders quietly, and Issei nods. Ari huffs, slamming the wall to the inside of the warehouse, nearly hitting one of the other spies.

‘Careful, will you?!’ calls the boy in question, a wide smile on his face as Shizuka slips by Ari. As soon as she’s outside, Issei sees a flurry of dark feathers. She moves up and to the left, ostentatiously flying above heads of the guards that came to check the storehouse noises, and they _screech_.

Issei isn’t there to see the continuation of it, isn’t there to see that as soon as vampires open the door to their former jail, three other Support members slam into them from inside before partially shapeshifting just as Shizuka did. He isn’t even aware that Ari, tracing his figure with his eyes, creates an illusion of Issei running in a completely different direction, before running out himself after mirage. All he knows is the power of Ichiru, pulsing in the matrix he created, ready to be released.

_„Ichiru!”_

_„On it!”_

Just as the swallow’s unusually loud trill resounds behind him, giant Asian water dragon explodes from the ground in the middle of the camp, roaring head directed southwest even as he rises, and rises... and rises... to explode high into the air, impossible to remain unnoticed during such a bright night.

*

Shu jerks his head up, only barely aware of Tsubasa getting up and stretching beside him.

‘Told you your kids will do fine.’ hunter remarks, multiple glyphs starting to shine on his body. ‘That’s one mighty sign.’

‘Yes, it is.’ Shu agrees absentmindedly, observing rain the exploding dragon caused.

_‘If we were Soul Spirit Users, too...’ Ichiru starts during their briefing sessions, happening during the breaks in training. Issei uses those to remember faces and profiles of the other decoys, as well as other children. ‘What do you think would be our animals?’_

_‘They can be also mythical creatures, Icchi.’ Eichi says with a smile ‘But, personally, I think you’d make for a cute weasels.’_

_Ichiru pouts._

_‘Then, you’re a fox!’_

_‘Eh? Why?’_

_‘You’re good at managing everything, and you cannot do that without being cunning, right?’_

_‘I... might not see the logic of it...’ Eichi says slowly, before his eyes travel to his leader. ‘Then, what about Shu?’_

_‘Definitely a Legendary.’ twins chorus that, and Eichi snorts, but then, he agrees. Shu blinks at them, confused._

_‘Wh-’_

_‘You’re powerful, close to your element, and have this aura that speaks „I’m special”.’ Ichiru points out. Eichi nods._

_‘That’s true, but Shu’s also kind, and helpful, and caring, and-’_

_‘Like a mizuchi.’ Issei interrupts the tirade. ‘The good kind.’_

_Ichiru grins, before both twins turn to him._

_‘Shu is like a kind mizuchi!’_

‘You’re amazing, Issei, Ichiru.’ he whispers, before nodding to the general of this operation. He definitely can feel Issei’s energy in the water, and that means, it was the sign they waited for.

The man inhales deeply.

‘Get in! Ready for contact with target! Protect the children! Go!’

*

Issei practically slides into the camp, not stopping even to regain his balance. He knew everything he needed to know - that is, Ichiru’s position- and so, he didn’t even pause to look around himself, his senses switching between those typical for human and those he possessed as a water Elemental. Big bodies of water low on the ground must’ve been captured children, smaller but impossibly quick ones are vampires, and the curtain he feels is the water from the dragon he and Ichiru created.

He slides just under vampire’s arm, droplets of water answering his suggestion and shackling the other. Then, there’s a thin shield, and another lower vampire growls behind him, sound turning to yelp as a blast of pure energy knocks him off his legs. Issei turns in the direction where the bolt came from, where Ichiru was slamming last of the cages’ locks open, confused children reacting to his urgent tone and exiting them.

‘Issei, we need a cover!’ he calls just as children scream when one of the vampires approach them. Attacker hisses when water spikes explode from the ground between her and her prey.

‘I know!’ Issei looks around frantically. ‘Everyone, get behind the cages!’

They move sloppily, but eventually a circular formation of cages stand between them and their oppressors. Issei thinks, thoughts mixing with Ichiru’s rapidly.

_„The Void is a good kilometer away, if they don’t want to reach us exhausted they won’t be there before four minutes-”_

_„The cages won’t stop them, and the kids cannot run quick enough-”_

_„Other spies are still in danger-”_

_„I won’t be able to hold out alone this long-”_

_„But we’re not alone.”_

Issei catches Ichiru’s eye, and his brother’s pupils widen, before they realize at the same time-

 _„We have something to hold out.”_ Ichiru grins, before letting go of the energy barrier he twined around the cages. It will hold few seconds more on its’ own.

 _„Something to mark our position.”_ Issei moves forward, matrix a thin frame they will fill with their energy - only not like they usually do.

 _”Something to protect everyone.”_ Ichiru joins him and grasps his hand, before squeezing, small surge of power sent into his twin’s body.

‘What are you going to-’ whimpers one of the children behind them. Another, older one, wails.

‘We’re surrounded, it’s the end!’

‘No, it’s not.’ Ichiru says, grinning as Issei closes his eyes and seconds later, Ichiru starts to hear. He can’t help himself, he starts tapping the rhythm that slowly spreads across his- across their bodies. As always, Shu’s music sounds familiar, soothing, _fun,_ just for them. ‘It’s only a start.’

Vampires end up breaking his barrier at this very moment and leap for them, but it’s at the same time Issei opens his mouth and Ichiru moves away, guided by their Song.

*

‘What the hell is that thing?!’ asks somebody on his right, pointing straight ahead of them, and Shu feels his heart swell with relief. So, he wasn’t wrong.

‘Oi, weren’t we supposed to be the fire ones?!’ Tsubasa asks, and Shu laughs.

‘But Quell is the blue unit!’ Eichi shouts next to him.

‘And that’s Blue Fire Crater for you.’ Shu finishes with a smile, step elongating with excitement any Composer will feel, seeing their Song utilized in a way they hoped for.

*

They almost forget everything that happens around them, the Song pulling them into a world only for the two of them. It’s not always happy, you have to struggle, but it’s worth it, so so worth it.

They give up their cover as decoys, but build a wall only them can surmount, and Ichiru can feel through Issei the echo of a water Elemental closing in on their localization.

They aren’t safe yet, but they will be, soon enough.

‘Goddamn Singers!’

Why? Those people looked angry, even though the Song was flowing in the air... even though this much energy was spread over the world, raising, purifying... Issei feels regret.

If what Shu has said was true, even Marionettes knew of the wonders of music, only Puppetmasters existences so wretched they see Song as something awful. Despite what they did to them, Issei didn’t want to put those living beings on the same level as monsters that threatened him and Ichiru in his nightmares.

_„You’re too kind.”_

_„But you feel the same, right?”_

_„We’re brothers, so of course...”_

‘Don’t freak out! They aren’t Takamuras and this isn’t Inferno!’ somebody calls, and Issei, though movement required in melody, moves his head to look at the man. He needed to record his face, since it wasn’t Izushimo. ‘Wear them off and push through their protection! Break through as soon as the Song ends!’

_„Issei.”_

Issei stands in front of Ichiru, before they move in two opposite sides, empowering the barrier further.

_„If it comes to it, I’ll use-”_

_„Don’t be stupid! You’re already at your limit with just this one, right? I’ll go._ ”

_„But, your Solo is-”_

_„It’s more fitting for guys like these.”_ Ichiru looks at him while they mirror each other’s movement once again. _„Besides, it’s not like it will be really needed.”_

Issei also becomes aware of it.

 _„Seems so.”_ he notes with relief.

They were enough.

The Song ends, and they look at each other, hands still extended, before Ichiru lurches forward to support Issei, whose legs just gave under him.

‘Issei!’

‘I-I’m... okay.’ he takes a deep breath. Water Memory suddenly felt like additional weight attached to his limbs, but...

He looks at the eastern sky. It was incredibly dark, but that only meant the dawn was closing on them, as the brightest time of the night finished, moon slowly travelling down, closer to the mountain walls on the western side of the valley.

He’s been holding Memory up for almost twelve hours now. They were nearing the limit.

He registers something - nobody has attacked the barrier they've built through a Song just yet. He looks up, and Ichiru does the same. They freeze.

Izushimo’s eyes are no longer red, they’re _scarlet_ , and yet, the fury in them feels cold, so incredibly cold.

‘So, you two weren’t spies, but Singers.’ he says and his voice is pure poison, as he position himself in front of the barrier, in front of vampire forces. ‘Nice word loophole you’ve found here, Tsukino boys.’

Issei shivers, the amount of hatred... it felt almost physical.

And Izushimo makes it change to physical now, as he raises his hand, and the water and cool air answer, creating spikes of ice, big, white, shining. Somehow, Issei can feel, even one creation of a vampire is stronger than their hastily put barrier, empowered through steadily weakening Issei, even if Ichiru is still providing him with the same amount of energy...

‘Get into the barrier and get as many kids as possible.’ Izushimo dryly orders his goons, and they spread around the barrier, each preparing to go after one spike. ‘Make sure to take these two, they are quite valuable. They might be Singers, but they’re still kids. We'll catch the other little birds later.’

With that, he swipes his hand, and Ichiru’s breath hitches just next to Issei’s ear.

And the spikes remain frozen in the air.

‘I agree they are kids, and I will tell you more - they’re _my_ kids, and _my_ Singers.’

Issei remembers, through the overwhelming sense of relief, what Shu has mentioned once; that while ice Elementals existed, all of them worked for Tsukino.

And ice user stood no chance against fully-developed, High vampire, water Elemental.

Leader of the Tsukino’s Battle Defense Unit Quell and head of the Izumi group enters the square, and his blue eyes are _blazing_.

‘Care not to hurt them, heir of Izushimo family?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I'm not showing you the water inferno Shu's creating until next chapter, lol, this thing is 12k long in my word, after small cosmetic changes I maaaybe cut it down to 10-11... I just love Quell (And apparently, love hurting twins. I promise they get all the cream puffs Shu can find for them after that, lots of cuddles and lots of snuggles.)  
> Now next chapter is finally returning a bit of attention to Solids. I originally planed on rotating the unit in focus, but since they're much closer to each other, and we still need to see the aftereffects of that mission, next arc is more of a SQ arc, rather than Solids arc (ok, it's basically Solids being uncles helping clean up the mess politics cause, and touching upon rather tender subjects while on it. Lots of talking, a bit of fighting, and in general, Tsubasa meddling, Rikka mothering, Shiki being Shiki, and Dai behaving like the only sane man (or is he?). Also, plot thickening for the next ALIVE drama...  
> Thanks for reading!


	12. Tight/Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After mammoth comes the elephant, lol.  
> This is "only" 9k long, but, well. We needed some setup for the Solids' drama, and had to wrap up(?) the whole kidnapping situation. Also, wanted to give Solids some action and ended up going overboard, lol. Sorry, but not really? They are badass.  
> Honorable mention goes to Ajillo (look for the reference!)

Tsubasa thought he’d seen everything. _Especially_ after meeting Shiki.

And yet, now, staring at Shu, he decides he has seen nothing.

Again.

Composers really liked to change his perspective on life, didn’t they?

‘It’s just defensive reaction.’ Rikka informs him as they knock out yet another vampire. ‘They endangered his youngest Singers. Have you seen Shiki when somebody gets too close to Dai?’

Tsubasa groans. Yes, he has seen it, has seen the flames effortlessly raise to the height of the biggest Puppetmasters, wrapping around the monsters, burning their skin off before they even can start a Song. Has seen the Marionettes get blasted away. Has seen Shiki tensing whenever a vampire passed them on the street, too close to Dai, in Shiki's opinion.

He just didn’t expect Shu has the same amount of viciousness in himself.

‘He’ll show it only if you endanger his boys.’ Rikka reassures him, as they fight back to back. ‘Or well, his Group. As picture attached shows.’

Tsubasa looks again. Shu paused his advent onto other High and few of his side kicks, but only to let small, dark brown weasel slip inbetween them, and onto his clothes.

He pets it.

‘I’m glad you’re alright, Ari.’ vampire says and animal seems to answer with some soft chirp. ‘Go gather rest of your friends, then help secure rest of the children. Try not to overwork yourself, though. You did great, I’m sure everyone is as proud of you as I am.’

Weasel drops down and seconds later changes into brown blur.

Tsubasa whistles.

‘Spirit Users are pretty enduring guys, aren’t they.’ he muses, then blinks. Rikka also catches it. ‘Rikka.’

‘Got it!’ Rikka moves fluidly among fighters, and to Shu’s side. He blocks a hit made of some mix of wind and electricity with wide swipe of his arm, releasing a very simple fire wave. ‘Shu, I think you should go to your Unit for now.’

‘I will.’ Shu doesn’t seem in the least fazed by the attack of elements he’s disadvantaged against. Rikka suspects that, with the cold fury his friend feels, Shu wouldn’t really notice he should be disadvantaged. Probably wouldn’t be, actually. ‘After I make sure nobody touches them _ever_ again, I will.’

Rikka knows that tone. Too well, in fact; he just sighs, before slipping in front of Shu and kicking high, swiping in a graceful arc, that spread the fire in front of them, forming field of tiny flowers.

‘Just don’t let your anger have you hurt them?’ he requests, and can see Shu’s shoulders lower. ‘I know you wouldn’t forgive yourself, like, ever.’

‘No, I wouldn’t.’ Shu sets his shoulders once again. ‘Thank you, Rikka. I’ll be quick.’

Rikka just smiles, before looking to their side.

The powerful water structure twins build was still there, still holding out, but it shimmered, marking its’ creator state. He could see twins huddling together behind it, actually.

‘We gotta hurry, too, Rikka.’ Tsubasa materializes at his side. ‘I don’t want to unnecessarily extend this mission. I have a bad feeling.’

Rikka tenses; Tsubasa’s instincts were usually right...

_„That’s why both us and Soara are on a standby. Focus on your job.”_

Against himself, he smiles, even as he dodges halfhearted punch, and in return offers a knee to his attacker’s stomach.

He was really grateful for Shiki’s straightforwardness.

_„Can’t we just miss you two?”_

_„Hmph.”_

‘What did Darling say?’ Tsubasa asks, restraining some minor vampire, before lightly shoving him in the direction of small black cloud, created around leaders of Six Gravity and Fluna. Seconds later, vampire drops to the ground, unconscious.

‘That they are on a standby.’ Rikka says unnecessarily loud, to make sure as many of their opponents as possible can hear it, not specific _what_ other Solids members are on standby for.

It has desired effect, too, a lot of vampires hesitating, only to realize seconds later that they cannot rejoin the fight, and Rikka is mildly impressed; the shackles binding his enemies are obviously water. He turns in the direction where Aoi and Wakaba seemed to raise additional protection ring around twins’ wobbly barrier.

‘It was your doing?’

One look later he knows it was not, Aoi and Wakaba looking mildly terrified of the technique in front of them, and Rikka turns again, to see Shu bringing the Izushimo to his knees, water not taking shape but rather restraining all of other vampire’s body in some kind of a water jail.

The fight was over.

‘I’ve told you I’ll be quick.’ Shu says, as if feeling Rikka’s stare on himself. ‘Issei and Ichiru created perfect battlefield for me, after all.’

Ah. So, the dragon sign has also this kind of result.

‘Those brats-’ starts Izushimo, then chokes. Water reached his throat, but Rikka had an unsettling feeling it was actually all of the liquid around the vampire that was suddenly pressing in on him, squeezing its captive.

‘For you, they are members of Field Defense Unit.’ Shu says, and if Rikka didn’t knew better, he’d presume Shu was an ice Elemental, with the tone he used. ‘And you know what happens when you inconvenience Field members.’

‘Shu. I appreciate the defensiveness, but, you know.’ Tsubasa stands next to the water Elemental. ‘Culprits need to live long enough for us to convict them, or old men will be complaining?’

Shu looks at the human at his side, for a moment. Tsubasa adds.

‘And you have more important things to do than literally crushing him. Right?’

At that, Shu sighs, and Izushimo coughs, as Elemental’s power stopped squeezing at his chest and throat.

‘Rikka, can I-’ Shu slowly starts, and Rikka just smiles.

‘Go, I’m good at being the representative.’

Shu nods, before taking off in the direction of the barrier. Tsubasa whistles softly.

‘I guess I don’t want to know how that battlefield forty years ago looked, after Shiki thought somebody killed you, if that’s how Shu reacts to his children being kidnapped.’

‘I’m pretty sure you knew it would end like this, that’s why you supported that idea in the first place.’ dryly says Rikka, looking around the battlefield, where most of the vampires became immobilized by a wide-range creation Shu activated while fighting another High. Tsubasa chuckles, sheepish.

‘Was it obvious?’

‘After I had some time to think about it, yeah. Though I guess I should have predicted an Okui heir using all means possible to solve the issue.’ he side-eyes his companion, ‘ You did try to minimize the risk, so I guess it's okay. Now, we need to find leader of the operation and other High hunters. I just got nominated to represent vampire side, after all.’

‘A fucking Changer representing us...’ Izushimo recovers from his coughing fit and hisses with contempt. Rikka looks at him, cold fire in his eyes, even as he raises his hand.

Fire lilies explode around the water jail High is trapped in, and their flowers bloom exactly at the height of vampire’s face.

‘I’d keep your opinions to yourself, mister Izushimo.’ he says slowly, as flowers open a bit wider, and Tsubasa has to take a step back due to their heat. ‘While it’s true you need to live, nobody said anything about being unharmed. And I guarantee you Shu’s water won’t be willing to soothe your burns.’

With that, he turns and walks away, leaving ice vampire in the trap of hot water that will not freeze no matter what, and fire flowers that will not let the temperature drop, no matter what.

Tsubasa catches up to him few steps away from it.

‘Did I ever mention you’re terrifying when you’re angry?’ he asks in a conversational tone, still grasping at Rikka’s hand.

He smiles, squeezing back.

‘Shu isn’t the only one overprotective here, Tsubasa.’

*

They find the leader of their operation already with most of other Highs and representatives of the organizations taking part in the mission. All of them are obviously occupied with observing something, and Rikka mutely follows their line of sight.

Shu was approaching the barrier, after exchanging few words with both Aoi and Wakaba. He stopped just in front of it, saying something, before brushing fingers against the surface, and causing ripple like effect through it. Rikka notices visible brightening of whole creation, a sign of vampire taking over its sustaining.

Shu was powerful long before he’s met his Unit, but the protectiveness apparently doubles his might, he registers, and can hear faint snort of his Changer in his mind.

‘Why didn’t he just destroy-’ starts one of the humans, but Tsubasa interrupts him.

‘Children’s safety comes first. It’s in case we just missed something... or someone.’

Meanwhile, Shu passes through the barrier.

Tsubasa blinks.

‘When did Eichi...’

‘You didn’t notice?’ Rikka looks at him in surprise, as Shu approaches rest of his teammates, Eichi with few glyph stones pulled out and attached to the brace on his left arm, helping Ichiru sit Issei down. ‘Shu gave him a sign to get to the children as soon as we entered the camp. He had to knock few vampires on his way, though.’

‘Yeah, but- he was inside of the- actually never mind. Issei probably recognized his signature or something.’ Tsubasa sighs. ‘They really are something else.’

‘Are we the ones to talk?’ Rikka says, amused, before focusing on the scene in front of them. It didn’t seem like anybody was interested in planning their future steps, all too focused on Quell.

Shu exchanges few words with Eichi and Ichiru, and then finally focuses on older twin. Rikka isn’t sure if Issei’s paleness is the effect of the barrier separating them, or something else...

Shu nods, then pats the twin as Issei reports something while shaking, before requesting something of their other teammates. Ichiru protests, but Shu replies something, and younger twin deflates. Eichi wraps arm around him, before mutely offering a blank stone to Shu, and gently dragging Ichiru away, just minimally away from Issei.

Tsubasa inhales next to him.

‘I hoped _this_ would not get added to the burden...’ he mutters softly. ‘They overloaded.’

Hajime and Yuki ‘ah’ softly.

‘The connection?’ Hajime confirms, and Tsubasa nods, glyph glinting above his eyebrow.

‘Brat probably instinctively send his energy to Issei to alleviate his exhaustion.’ he says. ‘But with everything going on around them, the adrenaline crash now hit and the energy stopped helping. Started being additional burden, most likely. Shu probably tries to put connection under control through separating them.’

‘That’s separating?’ asks dubiously one of the hunters, looking at Ichiru, literally centimeters from his brother, Eichi’s hold equal part supporting and comforting. And focusing on keeping Ichiru's hands close to his chest.

‘It’s a matter of skin to skin contact.’ speaks up a new voice, and Yuki makes place for her partner. ‘As long as they don’t touch, connection works differently. Weaker, but it’s also less destructive, thanks to that.’

‘Ai. Do you think-’ Yuki starts, but dhampire shakes her head.

‘I can see Izumi-san has everything under control.’

Shu was cradling Issei’s hands in his, and saying something to the twin, who, despite his shaking, nods his head. Seconds later, they can see faint blue shine, permeating even the barrier, starting inside joined hands of human and the vampire, and Tsubasa nods.

‘I guess he does, if he thinks Memory transfer is possible.’ he says, before turning away from the scene. ‘So we probably also should get the situation under control. Current state is...?’

‘Right.’ Hajime reluctantly peels his eyes away from the barrier and the Quell. ‘So far we've captured sixteen vampires and dhampires, however, only one High.’

‘It’s possible he was just stationed there as a vanguard... or rearguard of the chain.’ Yuki says. ‘You’ve seen him, since Izumi-san was the one to restrain him-’

‘Like most of the vampires that were close by.’ dryly adds Hajime, and Rikka chuckles, sheepish.

‘He might have heard... something unpleasant regarding his Singers?’ he explains, and all hunters look at him in disbelief. ‘He and Eichi were quite worried, so. He probably just let some of that slip.’

‘I just hope all future slips will be as advantageous as this one.’ dryly says Hoshizumo representative. ‘Our scouts are checking on the premises of the camp, and securing anything they think might serve as evidence, or a clue.’

Hajime nods.

‘Aoi and Arata group the restrained vampires together.’

‘Waka is with them.’ Yuki adds. ‘It seems it was quite high level technique, since it separated into individual restraints that outside water users can manipulate, but not take off. I’m sure Kurisu will want to ask how Izumi-san came up with this...’

‘By instinct?’ Rikka answers again. ‘When Composer reacts to Singer’s danger, they just choose the most effective method of rendering this danger incapacitated... at least that’s what I managed to gather.’

‘So you’re saying that in Darling’s opinion, the best way to alleviate danger of you getting hurt was starting a literal battlefield inferno?’ with sincere curiosity asks Tsubasa, and Rikka sighs.

‘In his defense, he didn’t start it, our Songs did. He just let it get bigger. Besides, aren’t we supposed to discuss current situation?’ he asks, and Tsubasa shrugs.

‘Just gathering info for future reference.’

‘Please don’t tell me you’re going to try and put yourself in danger just to get Shiki furious.’ Rikka says, sudden idea so terrifying he needs to alleviate his suspicions. Tsubasa snorts.

‘So?’ he asks, not answering Rikka, but also bumping their shoulders together. ‘We don’t have Field Support on site, so there’s no need to waste our time dawdling here after we secure everything that can be secured. Medical teams also await kiddos on the other side of the shelter walls, so.’

‘We need to decide what and who will be transported first.’ Hajime nods. ‘It’s crucial, as we’re technically still on a Field.’

‘Right.’ Yuki turns to her partner. ‘Ai, so far...’

Dhampire shakes her head.

‘None of our members reported anything out of ordinary. Boys from Gravi also seem to sense nothing. Even Uzuki-san.’

She adds that last part, and Hajime nods.

‘So, that means no closeby danger. Arata’s instincts are inexplicable, but they never really fail.’ he says. ‘Still, this time we’re working with both Field and Backstage, so it’d be better if we wrap up before the situation changes. How do we look with Tunnel setup?’

‘It can be ready in five.’ instantly answers leader of the Hoshizumo forces, and other captains nod with respect. ‘However, before the transport, we will have to assess children’s state.’

‘Why?’ Tsubasa asks. ‘Can’t you just presume all of them are in need of medical attention and won’t be able to use inner energy to support the Tunnel?’

‘The setup would then extend itself.’ his speaker shakes his head. ‘Sending vampires through first will be quicker in that case.’

‘But that’s leaving children in the unfriendly territory for a longer time.’ Rikka intrudes. ‘And also giving vampire side a chance to manipulate the facts.’

‘Rikka, which side you were supposed to represent?’ Tsubasa asks softly, but his Unitmate shakes his head.

‘The one currently trying his best not to bring a typhoon onto our heads, because he can smell blood.’ he answers, and few people inhale sharply. ‘I don’t know what was the procedure used, but at least some of the children are hurt, not sure in what form, but we cannot exclude feeding. Even I could smell that after Shu opened barrier, and you know how my blood senses are.’

‘Nonexistent, you mean. This should solve the dilemma.’ dryly says Tsubasa. ‘Blood is second thing, after Songs, that attracts Puppetmasters the most.’

‘How do you know it?’ sharply asks one of the Backstage leaders, but those working on the Field shift in place.

‘Because those monsters go after the weakness.’ says the leader of their action, and protest dies down on the leader’s lips.

Suzuki Hiro was Field Battle member, before an injury cost him an eye and immunity to Black Despair in his left arm. Despite that, he continued to work as a Field Support, until the infamous action from six years ago, where half of his Unit lost their lives. After securing future of surviving members, he resigned from his position, serving as an operator, and Backstage worker, helping in handling multiple cases of smuggling, power abuse and few other interracial conflicts inside shelters.

It was a given that he was also the only leader from outside Organization that General Tsukino trusted enough to ask for support and leadership on the mission.

And now that veteran folds his arms, considering their options.

‘Set up the Tunnel.’ he says to the Hoshizumo. ‘We need to gain stable connection anyway. Then... our priority is children, that’s true, but speed also is crucial.’

He hums.

‘Direct it at the medical bay. We’ll send Backstage forces with the children.’ he looks at Hoshizumo again. ‘This should enable us to send them back as soon as possible, without additional adjustments.’

‘Ah, that’s good!’ Tsubasa nods. ‘I’ve heard Etous did that when they had to move shelters on their terrain.’

‘Is there _something_ that Okui doesn’t know or have heard about?’ snorts somebody, but Tsubasa just shrugs.

‘Knowledge is as much a weapon as power is.’ he states, then frowns. ‘Although getting it is-’

‘Issei!’

They turn like one. Ichiru’s shout broke even through the barrier, and sounded like final state of absolute panic, probably for a reason. Issei was slumped over, only Shu’s arms around him preventing the boy from falling to the ground. Vampire’s face showed concern, but his shoulders were relaxed.

He says something in a tone too soft for them to hear from that distance, but then Eichi shifts, letting go of Ichiru. Younger twin glues itself to his brother, and seconds later, older human gathers both twins and pulls them towards himself. He nods to Shu and gives the vampire a small, tired smile, then points behind himself with his head. Shu looks, then stands up.

The boy Eichi pointed at bows shortly, but Shu shakes his head, putting both hands on his shoulders. He then looks back at his Unit.

Ichiru visibly calmed down, now that he was once again close by and touching his brother. More, it seemed that by now, Eichi was the one holding boys up, adrenaline crash finally catching up to both twins. He still says something to Shu, and vampire reluctantly nods, before turning and asking something of the still patiently waiting child. Together, they make it out of the barrier, and towards the group of leaders.

‘Shu, your kiddos are?’ Tsubasa asks, but Shu just shakes his head.

‘If I talk about it now, I don’t guarantee any of the vampires in water prisons making it alive to the trials.’ he answers, and Tsubasa sighs.

‘God, I am so glad I’m not a Composer.’ he looks up at the High’s companion. ‘I presume that’s the boy they took from your Group.’

‘Ah. Ari.’ Shu turns slightly. Maximally sixteen year old comes forward, and nods to them shortly. Rikka blinks.

‘Your ears...’

‘Ah.’ Ari’s hands shoot to the top of his head, where two round and furry appendages stuck out. ‘I might... not have the power to control the complete change, right now.’

‘Ah, no, sorry.’ Rikka backtracks. ‘It was impolite to bring it up.’

‘It’s fine, Rikka-sama.’ the boy answers and vampire blinks.

‘You know me?’

Ari smiles sheepish, his teeth unusually sharp as an effect of the leftover transformation.

‘Rather, I know the legends of Wandering Lily that are circling around in the Group.’

Rikka blinks, but before he’s able to say anything, Tsubasa comes forward and slings an arm over his shoulders.

‘I got another source of intel on you now~’ he sing-songs, before grinning at the boy, still standing by his Group head, confused. ‘You gotta tell me some of those legends sometime.’

His smile drops.

‘But before that- I guess Shu got you to inform us on the situation from the insider perspective.’

Brown ears twitch, then drop, and Ari nods. Shu looks questioningly at the leader of their operation, and Suzuki nods in agreement.

‘Let us hear it then.’

Ari hesitates, before bracing himself, Shu’s hand gently pressing into his back, a mute reminder of his support.

‘I... Honestly until... I think Issei? ca- was thrown into the warehouse, me and rest of decoys were cut off from the other victims, but. I’ve spend two days among them before they discovered me, and from the brief check I did moments ago, they didn’t change their behavior much.’ Ari inhales slowly. ‘The children will be severely weakened, malnourished, some might be bruised around the shoulders and wrists. Toya, one of the vampires, disliked controlling himself. Aside of that... it’s fine to presume all of them are anaemic by now.’

‘Excuse me?! All?!’ incredulously asks one of the lesser vampires, standing just next to the Hoshizumo representative. Ari flinches, his ears flattening even more. After spending some time with Ryota and Kensuke in their semi-released forms, Rikka could easily tell the boy in front of him weren’t near the level of control Growth possessed. Still, he kept his instincts in check.

‘I don’t think getting blood was their main objective.’ Ari assures. ‘I’ve caught them talking about cargo, and transport, and customer, after all. It was just a good method of controlling the children, even when there were more of them than there were vampires in the camp.’

‘Vampires and dhampires, actually.’ Ai says, again materializing by her leader’s side. ‘We just finished our scans - some might have gotten away, but remaining eighteen criminals are in our hands, including heir of Izushimo branch family.’

‘So, Tendouins might be involved, huh.’ Tsubasa mutters.

Ai hesitates.

‘About that. I also received a message from Tsubaki-chan.’ she says, turning slightly towards Hajime. ‘She said that if we find any of her family members in here, we’re free to make them „sacrifices to show off Hajime-sama’s might”... though I really hope it’s just a strange wording of „ignore all possible problems their uncovering might cause to main family, and go for arrest”.’

Hajime sighs.

‘Haru, you definitely are listening on, so. Come out.’ he says, just a bit louder than was necessary, ignoring the amused look his cousin was sending his way. His partner comes from behind nearest building, unreadable smile on. ‘About those escapees...’

‘Arata is tracking them as we speak. You know who his family is.’ Haru says, expression not changing, despite mentioning one of the oldest family of vampire-killers. ‘Koi and Kakeru are on a standby, ready to rush and intercept them the second we decide on the direction. No worries.’

‘I’m not worried.’ Hajime says dryly, and Haru chuckles.

‘Just disappointed you won’t take part in the hunt.’ he says, and waves his hand in the air. ‘Like quite a lot of us. But, you were worrying about time just moments ago?’

Hajime sighs, before returning his gaze onto Shu and his groupmate.

‘Can you tell us something more about the children?’

‘There’s one that will need urgent medical and mental help.’ Ari instantly answers. ‘I think his name was Yuma, he-’

‘Kagiyama Yuma, huh.’ Tsubasa sighs. ‘Let me guess, he tried to protect other children and got much more hurt as the result.’

‘How-’

‘Like master, like student.’ dryly answers Tsubasa. ‘His case was what triggered Tsukino into action in the first place, and even got you involved.’

Shu nods, when Ari looks at him.

‘His kendo teacher is part of Solids’ partner Support Unit.’ Rikka says. ‘He got accused of helping Yuma’s kidnappers-’

_„Rikka. We’re dispatching near you. Head to the east, you’ll most likely be intercepting them. We’ll meet with you on the spot.”_

_„Shi-”_

_"It’s definitely a Puppetmaster.”_

‘I know what follows after such abrupt cut offs.’ Tsubasa sighs. ‘What did Darling ask.’

‘Dispatch, east, Puppetmaster, heading our way.’ Rikka refers quickly. ‘Solids dispatches, rendez-vous spot is on the Field.’

‘Of course.’ groans Tsubasa, before turning to the leader of their action, air suddenly crackling with tension. ‘Suzuki-san, requesting permission for separate course of action. If I can suggest, follow through with your plan to withdraw children with Backstage forces-’

‘I also support that.’ Hajime quickly says. ‘Fluna and Gravi can deal with guarding the transport and the prisoners, while the children are evacuated and Tunnel shifted to the conviction hall. I’m going to call off the hunt for escapees.’

Suzuki nods in the direction of Tsubasa and Rikka.

‘Permission granted.’ he looks as the two nod, then turn and rush in the direction of the danger. He then turns to his leaders. ‘Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got twenty five kids to treat and evacuate, let’s get down to business.’

He looks back behind the barrier, where Eichi was still cradling twins, but at the same time gently reassured a tiny girl and talked with some other children, directing them in their first aid attempts.

‘Start with those twins, other decoys - you’ve done enough, bo- no, young man of Izumi, you deserve to finally rest - and the most hurt children. We’re getting everyone out of there, before Tsukino even engages this giant Puppet.’

*

‘Tsubasa.’ Rikka calls out only once he’s sure they're well out of hearing range of those left in the camp. ‘Do you think what I think?’

‘Yeah.’ there’s complete lack of regular facade Tsubasa puts up in front of strangers. ‘And I really, really hope that we’re wrong, this time. Usually though, when we agree on something, it can only be true.’

‘So you’ve also noticed.’

‘After this many times when I was putting Shiki down to sleep with you? How could I not?’ Tsubasa looks at him with wide eyes, before ducking under a branch. ‘Seriously, though. Puppetmaster this close to us just moments after we wrapped up the second phase? Even Kakerun’s bad luck cannot guarantee this kind of coincidence.’

‘And that means we will find those runaway vampires.’

‘Hopefully still in a vampire form.’ Tsubasa says dryly. ‘Although I’m actually the first generation of hunters who has been trained in fighting that other option as main.’

‘It doesn’t look this way on our trainings, to me.’ Rikka jumps atop some taller boulder - they really were in the mountains again, his mind registers with inexplicable nostalgia - before turning to help Tsubasa up.

Hunter doesn’t let go of his hand once they’re up, and Rikka stills. Tsubasa shifts.

‘Just for the record, I don’t plan anything outrageous,’ he says, ‘but, just in case.’

He leans in. _Only Tsubasa_ , Rikka’s mind supplies while he returns the affection, _could think of kissing right on the Field_.

‘I’m sorry for the trouble I might cause?’ Tsubasa says, once they separate. ‘I hope I’ll cause none, but, you know.’

‘I know.’ Rikka agrees with a gentle smile, before once again moving in the direction Shiki gave him.

He doesn’t let go of hunter’s hand.

Tsubasa didn’t need to cause trouble. Trouble found them whenever Solids got together, anyway.

*

They know when they reach their destination, because the breathing becomes hard.

‘Is it only me, or is Black Despair heavier than usual?’ Tsubasa says lowly, and Rikka nods.

‘I really wish I could say it’s just us getting spoiled with regular dispatches with proper Support, but...’

He doesn’t need to finish his words. Soara didn’t return to the Field after Munakata’s trial, not until that dispatch twelve hours ago, after which they got informed about traffickers taking the bait...

Which meant Solids worked without Support, or with occasional help from Growth for most of last month. There was no chance for them getting their perception screwed, which meant only one thing.

Puppetmaster they were yet to see really emanated stronger Black Despair.

‘I was right to have a bad feeling about this,’ Tsubasa mutters more to himself than to Rikka. ‘I hate being right.’

‘You don’t, usually.’ Rikka returns half-heartedly. Tsubasa snorts softly, but his Unitmate’s words seems to be what he's needed.

‘You’re right, I don’t.’ he looks forward, and Rikka catches golden glint with a corner of his eye. ‘I just hate when it’s about those guys.'

Their further banter is interrupted by the shout from in front of them.

‘Stop it! That’s not what we agreed upon! I say STOP!’

They exchange glances, before lunging forward like one.

Their way was a shortcut they could use thanks to their agility and remotely small size, allowing them to duck and slip through shallow spaces no Marionette or Puppetmaster would be able to fit into.

But that only meant the vampires that ran away before them were also capable of using that.

They exit the protection of the forest to stop at the top of a mountain scree, falling onto a clearing just slightly shallower than the one with the camp they raided to reclaim children was.

Currently, on that clearing, twelve vampires in various states of infection were thrashing among small army of Marionettes, while Puppetmaster was slowly moving towards them, each centimeter closer unwinding more of his skin-cape, spreading more of the Black Despair, that at this point looked like dark mist, spreading slowly over all of the clearing.

Rikka could see the grass yellowing under the feet of vampires and Marionettes.

He can also see Black Despair slowly crawling up the bodies of the vampires trying to run away from the thing they brought onto themselves, some desperately trying to climb the loose rubble of the mountainside they stood on.

It’s painful to watch, especially when he realizes, even with Shiki’s flames, they won’t be able to save even one of them.

‘Sixteen, two already changed.’ Tsubasa says in a toneless voice. ‘That’s what they get for bringing what they cannot control, but-’

They get interrupted by a shout.

‘That’s not what your master said you’d do!’ screams desperately one of the vampires, and suddenly, Rikka becomes aware Tsubasa is no longer by his side.

‘Tsubas-’

‘What do you mean?!’ hunter slid down through the rubble, before grabbing at the front of vampire’s clothes, ignoring the Despair. Glyphs flashed on his forearms, as vampire grasped at them and then screamed, protections of the hunter doing their job. Tsubasa shook his victim ‘Answer! I might manage to prolong your life a bit, then.’

Vampire looks at the hunter, and there’s nothing but wild, instinctual fear in them.

‘It’s...’ he starts, but then screeches, together with the Puppetmaster - or rather, two of them, second coming from behind the first, it’s body basically only head and hands, grabbing at everything and anything it can reach, and Rikka realizes he cannot wait any longer.

_„Shiki, you guys better hurry up. It’s irregulars.”_

_„Son of a-”_

Rikka doesn’t hear rest of his Changer’s reaction, as he raises both his hands up, and Tsubasa stumbles back onto the rubble, as a wall of lilies, tall, rich in flowers and _hot_ , raises between him and the monsters, instantly scorching the Marionette that just seconds ago was a vampire he tried to interrogate.

Fire reflects on something near the place one of the Puppetmaster should have an ear. Rikka focuses on that place for a second, before inhaling sharply, and spreading his arms, causing lilies to embrace the clearing in a hot, impenetrable ring.

The glinting thing was remain of the earring in the shape of old Izumi crest.

 _They must not let that thing pass_.

‘Sorry, and thanks for the save!’

Rikka slides down to the small space clear of the rubble and fire that Tsubasa made with some kicks. When he checks, hunter’s eyes are sharp and focused, but he can still see frustration underlying it all.

He doesn’t need to ask. He’s most likely going to understand in a second, that's what Duet made with people.

‘You’ve already apologized once.’ he reminds the hunter, and Tsubasa looks at him, before smirking.

‘Guess I did~ So.’ he points behind the wall of lilies, where Puppetmasters were sending unbelievable amounts of Despair and their Marionettes, trying to extinguish Rikka’s creations, screeching all the while. ‘Wanna bring them hell?’

‘No, I wanna bring them heaven.’ Rikka says, and sees Tsubasa’s widening smirk. ‘Black Heaven, even.’

*

They dispatch before Soara, to make sure there’s space for the Support Unit to take and use as their stage, and honestly speaking, Shiki is glad they did. Even if the landing point is few hundred metres away from the clearing, on the opposite wall of the valley, he can feel the vibrations that shake the ground, powers struggling for dominance.

He’s only nominally pleased with sharpness of the riffs he hears in his Song - he knew it was going to be a great Duet the second he put last note on paper - because voices of his Singers cause irrational worry to grow inside of him.

It’s not that they’re off mark - Rikka has been Singing for too long to slip off of the path showed by the Song, and Tsubasa’s natural talent made him literally unable to mess up, apparently - but, the emotions in their voices are way too desperate for the victory anthem.

Rikka’s preserving tension he can understand, he’s seen the Izumis’ crest through his Changer’s eyes, and understood his desire to keep another lost Izumi away from Shu, away from opening an old wound Quell’s leader only recently seemed to allow to start mending.

But, why was there so much frustration underlying Tsubasa’s lines? Why was Solids' center, and most likely a Muse of that Song, so angry?

‘Dai.’ Shiki calls out to his companion, judging the best place to descend into the literal boiling pot their Unitmates changed the clearing into. ‘Did Tsubasa send you something?’

‘No.’ but, Dai doesn’t ask where that question came from, ‘He’s... angry. For some reason.’

Then, their youngest adds new piece to the puzzle Shiki had in front of his eyes.

‘At himself.’

Shiki blinks.

‘At himself?’

Dai nods.

‘I can’t figure out anything else.’ he says, and suddenly, Shiki hears concern in his voice. Then realizes.

Both him and Rikka are also concerned...

But, just as he thought that, Rikka and Tsubasa’s Duet reached its’ bridge, and Rikka looks up at them while Singing his line. Tsubasa follows, his eyes only glancing at them, before focusing on the mix of his and Rikka’s fires, and Black Despair that tried to extinguish them before they burned it away.

‘We won’t figure it out if he doesn’t want us to.’ he says, patting Dai heavily. ‘So we need to finish this matter in front of us now, before we press for answers. Brace yourself, Dai, we will enter right after they finish. I want to leave no trace of those monstrosities.’

‘At least that, I’m sure we all agree on.’ Dai answers, grasping at hand on his shoulder and squeezing briefly.

His skin is pleasantly hot to Shiki.

They’re about to become hotter, Shiki thinks, as Rikka and Tsubasa reach for the final high notes, before wrapping up with last line, every syllabe emphasised by small explosion of heat on the clearing.

Rouge hot.

*

There’s not even a second where they aren’t protected by the Song, even after their Duet ends. It’s as if Shiki seamlessly fit first beat of his and Dai’s Song with last beat of Black Heaven, and Rikka spares a second to once again look up at their Unitmates.

Puppetmasters also turned in the direction of the newcomers, paying for their distraction with loss of all Marionettes, Rikka’s and Tsubasa’s mixed flames easily consuming distracted monsters without the protection of amassed Despair.

He spares a look around clearing and realizes with heavy heart, that he cannot tell Marionettes from the vampires they were chasing. Corpses of those only partially affected with Despair and in normal state burned differently - those changed left only their ashes... meaning they were too late.

But. The Song gave respite, even if it destroyed in the process. At least those poor, stupid criminals had their punishment cut short by Rikka and Tsubasa’s flames.

‘Rikka, c’mon! Rendez-vous!’ Tsubasa calls to him, his skin shining from amount of activated support glyphs, as he steps into a clearing. Rikka coats himself in heat, before following.

Puppetmasters roar and release even bigger amounts of Despair, that instantly gets swallowed in the tornado of cold blue and purple flames.

Somehow, he feels he catches shades of his own flames inside, though...

Tsubasa smirks while looking over his shoulder at him, as if saying ‘I was right~’ and Rikka returns the smile, before both of them jump to opposite sides, dodging the arm blindly swinging at them. It moves after Rikka, and he effortlessly jumps over it. Dai and Shiki were also nearing them, their Song on a bridge already, pushing the Despair, tightening the circle of flames around the Puppetmasters, scorching the disease and its’ apostles.

Just a bit more and they will be close enough to get into Unit Song... and then, they will turn even irregular Puppetmasters to ashes.

Tsubasa thinks the exact same way, through the faint fog of residue frustration left from not getting the information he hoped for. He dodges another flailing arm, and moves another step closer to his Composer and childhood friend. Reaches to his belt, squeezing at one of the stones there, without even watching.

The weapon recognizes his touch, and, once next hand comes at him, Tsubasa doesn’t dodge. Instead he raises both arms and rapidly lowers them.

Puppetmaster wails, as its’ body is pierced by the Sun Spell in a form of a light sword, and hunter feels irrational satisfaction as he sees the grey skin turn to crisp, scorching spreading from the wound he inflicted.

Only no, it wasn’t irrational. One piece of a monster able to hurt his boyfriends less was a reasonable thing to be satisfied about.

‘Tsubasa!’

He easily pulls the weapon out - the damage was done, and would spread either way - and dodges one arm, then the other, those two the only ones that made it through the barrier of the purple blue and pink flames.

It was good to protect and be protected, he decides, even as he stumbles backwards, only to fall onto another body. Arms easily stabilize him, all while dodging touching his right hand, and Tsubasa smirks, looking up.

‘Missed me, Darling?’

‘Watch your step, Honey.’ Shiki answers. ‘And better get ready for a wrap up. They had enough time to infest this place.’

‘Never agreed more.’ Tsubasa steps away, and lets the sword fade back to a glyph stone form. ‘What do you have in mind? Though, I have an idea already...’

‘Don’t you think this night has gone for a bit too long?’ Shiki asks, and Tsubasa’s eyes widen, before he grins. ‘And got a bit... tight, in places.’

‘Tight, it is!’ Dai calls dryly from somewhere behind Tsubasa, to the right. ‘So maybe stop chatting and help us a bit?’

‘Sure thing.’ Shiki looks at the two worn out Puppetmasters, still seemingly hissing and screeching in his direction. Dai and Rikka were somehow keeping them under control. ‘We’re not letting it go.’

‘No, definitely.’ Tsubasa says, as he, too, turns towards the monsters. ‘I won’t let anything escape again.’

For some reason, Shiki feels the lyrics in Tsubasa’s mouth have double meaning, but.

It doesn’t matter for now. Only Song mattered.

*

It was easy to know where to go, once they landed. The heavy riff and power of the Song only Takamura could Compose told not only Sora, but also rest of the Soara where to rush to.

‘Seems like we came just for the end of the party and the clean up.’ dryly notes Soushi, looking down onto the clearing.

The ashes of both Marionettes and plants infected with Black Despair littered the once green clearing, but the black mist was lifted. Bloody red fire roared in its place, but even that was dying down, slowly, because the Song had still few good seconds to go.

Still, it was a sight to behold, and so, they watch, four figures dancing in harmony, flames obedient while still wild, still chewing at the piles of Despair that once were Puppetmasters.

Finally, even this stops, and Sora sighs.

‘I will not get bored, no matter how many times I see i-’

‘Watch out!’ Ren cries out at the top of his lungs, eyes wide and almost white with the sensoric power, but his warning comes a microsecond too late.

The first Puppetmaster dissipated completely, changing to the same murky ash his Marionettes changed before it. The second one had to have more hatred, more Despair in itself, because instead of dissipating, in its last moment of existence, it throws out a bolt of Despair.

And it goes straight at Tsubasa.

He knows he won't be able to dodge it completely, so at the same time he throws himself to the side, he raises his arms up, multiple runes - _clarity, block, strength_ \- lighting up.

Amassed Despair hits his left arm like a block of ice, and Tsubasa suddenly has a sense of deja vu, the same hand infected two years earlier, in defense of a lesser hunter they were on a mission with.

 _„Thank gods for light users.”_ is his first thought, even when the power of hit throws him onto a wall of the cliff, from which Shiki and Dai descended, and from which Soara was now watching them, apparently, judging by Ren's warning shout.

Then, his second thought comes, as he feels purple flames rise in front of him, once again, melting the ice of leftover Despair.

_„I’m so glad I didn’t promise Rikka not to make Shiki go berserk.”_

_*_

‘And that’s the overview we were working with.’ finishes Tatsuhiko Kaname, the head medic of Backstage Support Healer teams of Altair. He pushes his long dark bangs away from his eyes impatiently. ‘Soara started Support Song as soon as they noticed the danger, and Takamura-san burned the leftover of the Puppetmaster to a crisp, so there were not much Despair to get into Okui-san’s system in the first place. His support glyphs blocked out attempts to influence the infection made by the vampires, both Takamura-san and our guys from Sargas, who were waiting at the Tunnel entrance for them. His body refused, even though both Yuri and Mika tried with just water and light. Then, we got to him, but it turned out the infection has already started receding, even though Okui-san’s profile clearly states he’s not the light user.’

He lays the paper he was reading from down, looking at General Tsukino, sitting opposite him, as well as leader of that mission, captain Suzuki.

‘He woke up just about an hour ago, answered all our regular check-up questions before we even could ask them. Then said that he feels fine but hungry, and if we couldn’t let him out, since he was promised lemon tarts and some Spanish dish, which name made him crack up because his leader apparently behaved strangely when hearing it once, from Sera-san, before the mission. Does that make any sense?’

Tsukino Mikoto just sighs.

‘As much as Puppetmaster targeting somebody other than a Composer in its last moment. So, not really, but at least we have a semi-explanation.’

Kaname groans.

‘An Okui.’ he choruses that with Suzuki, who, for his part, sounds more amused than exasperated. Then, the giant man becomes serious.

‘Tsukino’s Altair took care of all injuries in this case, right? What is...’ he asks, before trailing off, unsuredly, looking at Tsukino. Leader of Altair also looks at him, and General nods.

‘Captain Suzuki is the big reason why we have only the injured and not lethal casualties on our side. He deserves to know.’ he says, and Kaname nods, picking the papers up once again, then turning the page.

‘Susp- pardon me, culprits have bruises and cuts, none of them is in danger of dying before the trial. Some seem to have swelling caused with overload of water, and few had not too dangerous trouble with breathing, the High from Izushimo family had additionally few burns in his neck and face area, as well as strongly bruised chest. According to Yuri and Izumo, it’s a miracle, considering they crossed with a High water Elemental specializing in offensive usage.’ he snorts. ‘I guess we need to thank Izumi-san for his self-control. I would literally strangle all of them.’

Tsukino shifts. It was unusual to have his usually level-headed medic get so fired up, but he guessed he’ll get a reason for that in a moment...

Kaname turns to another page.

‘As for their victims - all children are malnourished, some are severely traumatized to the point of fearing any vampire. Ritsu, our pink princess out of all vampires, ended up making them cry.’

Tsukino nods slowly. Ritsu Senkawa was known for his petite build, unusually bright hair and wide eyes that made him the most non-threatening out of all five vampires in Sargas, possibly out of all medics in Altair. To get somebody to fear someone like that...

Then again, some of those children lived in captivity of vampires for more than four months...

‘Continue.’ he asks quietly. Kaname obliges.

‘All of children are anaemic - it connects to the previous point I touched - but aside of rather...’ he sighs. ‘All of our vampires were disgusted by them, but I think Toma summarized it the best - he said that if he’d see somebody leaving such bite marks in the shelter, he’d, and I quote here, beat the crap out of them and then knock their fangs out, to make it equally vulgar and brutal as those bites were, end of quote.’

‘Hot-headed, as expected of fire vampire.’ Tsukino says, but Kaname shakes his head.

‘All of Sargas agreed with him. Even Yuri.’

Toma Kamiya of Regulus and Yuri Shinonome of Sargas, equal opposites the same as their elements. Thanks to belonging to different medical subunits, they managed to avoid conflicts in their approach to the injured, and got along pretty well. Not Shu and Shiki level of well, but.

They didn’t have Composer Talent to bond over, and still managed.

‘Those thankfully were the worst wounds any of the children had.’ Kaname returns to the report. ‘As predicted in the first messages we got from the Field Units before the Tunnel transfer started, the most hurt was the boy, Kagiyama Yuma. According to few tentative statements we’ve gathered from other children, he was picked on the most, because he refused to break, and fought back.’ Kaname hesitates. ‘Despite also being terrified of vampires now, he also tries to hold that in check. He even let Hijiri help Maki in treating him.’

‘That’s unusual combination.’ Tsukino raises his eyebrow. Sargas and Rigel’s lightning users had nothing in common, aside of equally „too manly for a medic” looks and... ‘Could it be he’s that kendo boy?’

‘Indeed, sir.’ Kaname nods. ‘He even called out to Munakata-kun, once Soara returned from the Field. Although his master obviously sensed the fear and kept his distance. He did accompany Kagiyama-kun until his parents didn’t come, though.’

‘Of course.’ Tsukino smiles briefly, before asking. ‘What about decoys?’

Kaname turns the page once again.

‘We only have the data from the first aid treatment of all of them, since Etou medics came in soon after. As all of the decoys were Soul Spirit Users, nobody protested at letting them be cared for by the specialists.’ he notes, before focusing. ‘They had been forced to suppress their power for a long time, after which they used it in a threatening situation, which resulted in slight confusion of their Soul Spirits, and inability to completely hide their Spirits’ attributes, but we were assured it will pass with time. Since they were treated as a potentially dangerous treat, there were only singular signs of feeding from each- no, sorry, five out of six, one was discovered before being chosen, and wasn’t fed from.'

'However,' he continues, 'they were put under a lot of mental strain, by being in a small, closed, dark space. There was apparently few times that vampires tried to force information about their senders out of them though primitive tortures, like freezing their surroundings and not letting them rest, resulting in severe weakening of their bodies. As most of those were cadets for Backstage Support, they had pretty high immunity from the start, so I believe they will recover from almost all of side-effects with a week of proper rest and nutrition. I’m sure Etou domain can ensure that for them. Most of bruises and scratches they had on themselves came from the initial scuffle they caused as a distraction to allow Quell’s twins to send a signal out.’

He sighs heavily.

‘Which brings me to my second absolutely baffling patient.’ he says, but rather than exasperation, there’s slight worry in his voice. ‘Kuga Ichiru-kun and Kuga Issei-kun, although I will focus on Issei-kun for most part. His twin had thankfully avoided any serious injury, although, since they only recently started training-’

‘I still can’t believe it.’ Suzuki mutters under his breath, but Kaname shakes his head.

‘You would, if you saw their medical results.’ he looks at just that. ‘For now, due to unusually high depletion of his energy core in a short period of time, Ichiru-kun developed a slight fever. It was subduing by the time we checked on him, but flared up when he was separated from his brother. I haven’t seen that even in Kisaragi twins’ cases, but apparently it has to do with their synchronicity. Ai-kun said she used to have the same condition whenever she was too far apart from Koi-kun, and one of them was in a worse condition.’

He huffs.

‘Elder Kuga is definitely in a worse condition, at least I suspect so.’

‘What does that mean?’ Tsukino asks calmly, but the hands he laid on the table are gripping at each other to the point of leaving white marks.

‘It’s not as bad as the worst scenario we predicted after hearing about the plan. And I’m quite positive he will get better.’ Kaname quickly assures his General. ‘However, it might take some time. On top of exhausting his core the same way his brother did, Issei-kun strained himself with usage of high-level techniques, and then a Song on top of it. Thankfully, it was a Song tailored for him and his brother, so the burden of it was split, on top of being not as high as if they used an Universal Song. Thank gods for that.’

He mutters the last part.

‘That being said, his exhaustion carried over to the whole body. Thankfully, Izumi-san has made him create the Memory Crystal and stop the technique before his muscles would be overridden with impulses from the recorded memories and cause muscle spasms, but the heart rate was too quick, even in unconscious state, water in his organism also started getting out of control, just before his body instinctively knocked itself out to stop any further self-damage. Still, it resulted in severe dehydration, which, coupled with the strain his mind underwent, might cause him weakening and strong headaches for the next few days.’

He turns the last page, slowly.

‘He woke up briefly, while all of his Unit was around, letting us perform a check on the mind. He was slightly confused, definitely sore, and his memories were rather hazy, but considering he was transferring them until the last second he was conscious, it’s nothing surprising. He was able to recall few details important to him, so I’d say for now, it’s a pretty promising result.’ he hesitates. ‘We’ve addressed the dehydration issue, as well as over-saturation, but once it was under control, I made the decision to let him go back to the dorms.’

‘You have a reason for that.’ Tsukino doesn’t really ask. ‘You wouldn’t let your patient out of your sight if you didn’t, especially not an unconscious one - because Issei-kun didn’t regain consciousness after that brief period?’

‘No, sir, he didn't.’ Kaname shakes his head. ‘However, after that, he just fell asleep. I believe that aside of dehydration, his body would deal with all other issues even without our help... but with help from Ichiru-kun.’

‘Meaning?’

‘I’ve mentioned how Ichiru-kun’s fever spiked whenever he got separated from his brother.’ Kaname explains. ‘The same happens to Issei-kun. He was restless in the medical room, but as long as his Unit was close by, it was manageable. However, when we tried to send them away to rest, however briefly, his condition rapidly destabilized. Even when we agreed to have Ichiru-kun stay as well on a nearby bed, it repeated itself, albeit slightly weaker.’

Kaname looks at Suzuki briefly, before making up his mind.

‘Yuri theorized it might have to do with something akin to a brotherhood of Elemental cores; that Issei-kun’s body instinctively assigned safety to presence of Izumi-san by his side, amplified by Horimiya-san’s natural predisposition to enhance calming effects.’

‘So, he really has this kind of skill.’

‘It comes with personality.’ Kaname smiles, before it gets wiped off of his face. ‘Yuri once worked with his older sister, before we lost her. He says she had similar skill to cheer everyone up.’

‘I see. So it’s in Horimiyas’ blood.’ Tsukino sighs. ‘Then? You decided to allow them to take Issei?’

‘No, sir. At first we just thought to experimentally transfer him, for a change of surroundings. However, he was still unsettled. Only when we finally moved him into Quell’s dorm, with Izumi-san’s permission we observed great improvement to his condition, even before we moved Issei-kun to his room.’ Kaname explains quickly, before his voice starts showing shadows of excitement. ‘Then - apparently it’s normal for the two - Ichiru-kun and Issei-kun ended up resting in one bed, but that’s where the magic starts-’

‘They started improving rapidly?’ Tsukino guesses and his head medic nods vigorously.

‘Almost instantly, heightened pulse dropped, breaths evened out, even complexion improved. And it wasn’t only the regular changes. Itsuki checked on their cores, apparently, they started mending each other, through that twin link.’

He deflates visibly, and Tsukino looks at him alerted.

‘But, their original symptoms also got split.'

‘You mean Ichiru-kun’s temperature dropped, but Issei-kun’s rose?’ confirms Suzuki, and medic nods. Captain chuckles. ‘Well, aren’t those selfless kids.’

Tsukino looks at him curiously.

‘Have you heard about something like that before, captain? I suspect their link as twins is the culprit, but...’

‘It definitely is.’ Suzuki says, and there’s warm fondness in his voice. ‘I oversee few interracial Pacts, you see, and it is quite common when they’re made between children, for stronger of the pair to give some of its power to the weaker, and take part of the inconveniences. You know, like phantom pain that lessens the pain of actual injury? Or, I had a vampire that helped her classmate fight off asthma. But, it only happens when the children are close before, and the Pact just builds on the preexisting closeness. Though, I guess, it’s a given for twins.’

Tsukino recalls the way twins would touch without even registering it, communicate with glance, or cool each other down with as little as a hug. The memories tug corner of his lips upwards.

_„I now understand what Shu and Eichi see in doting.”_

Outwardly, he just says:

‘Yes, you could say it’s a given. Kaname, do you have the estimate for them? We have a Memory Crystal, but with Issei being who he is, it might be hard to unwind the memories without his presence.’

Kaname frowns, visibly worried.

‘To a full recovery? I’d say even with their regeneration amplified... let’s say in the same way Ai-kun’s regeneration was sped up after she returned from that mission at the southern nest and spent time with Koi-kun. Even with this much, I’d say they have at least a week, maybe eight days for full recovery. But...’ he considers for a moment, hesitating on sharing his next thought. ‘After Issei-kun awakes for a longer time, and we will be able to perform a proper check, if nothing concerning shows up, and if he will be in a safe environment, he should be able to unwind them in two days. With breaks, and only with Izumi-san’s supervision. Preferably only in the presence of people he feels comfortable with, for minimal stress, but I suppose it would be hard to arrange. It might extend the overall recovery time, though.’

‘Of course.’ Tsukino slowly nods. ‘But, considering our situation... we really need information in those memories as soon as possible. The sooner we get them, the sooner we can trial and sentence the culprits, and lessen the tension in public.’

He sighs, leaning away on his chair.

‘Knowing Quell, Shu will be absolutely against it, together with Eichi, while Issei will want to do it despite it straining him.’ he says with closed eyes. ‘I don’t want to hurt him for no reason, but- tell me, gentlemen, what are your opinions on it?’

‘You know what we think, General.’ dryly says Suzuki, motioning between himself and Kaname. ‘I will present social assets of having the information of the Memory on our side, while your medic is obliged to advocate for the health of his patient. Although I must admit I’m already in awe of what those two boys did for us, and feel reluctant to ask for more.’

‘Welcome to my world for the past five, six years.’ dryly says Tsukino. Suzuki chuckles, sheepish.

‘Right. For you, almost all of them are like children, huh.’

‘While it’s true I’ll advocate for health first,’ Kaname slowly speaks up, returning them to the topic at hand,‘am I right in prediction that this is meant to shorten the whole trial procedure? As well as conviction?’

‘Of course.’

‘Realistically, by how much?’ Kaname presses, and Tsukino hesitates.

‘With Memory, we might carry out the trial the week after this one. Without it, assembling evidences in a manner that will prove undisputable will extend the procedure by at least a week, maybe two. Not to mention, there’s a possibility of us missing someone involved we would catch with Memory.’

Kaname nods slowly.

‘Then...’ he hesitates. ‘Considering how much sense of safety influences Issei-kun’s regeneration, I’d say going for the Memory unwinding might be better solution, even with all the drawbacks... obviously, only if the person in question agrees, and under conditions I’ve listed previously.’

Tsukino looks at him for a moment, before nodding.

‘Thank you, Kaname, captain Suzuki, too. I’ll discuss it with Shu tomorrow.’

He smiles faintly.

‘For now I want to let all of Quell sleep off this night, and prepare for the cream puff party twins had been promised.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To any fan of Altair reading this: I'M SO SORRY I LITERALLY MADE UP BOYS' PERSONALITIES BASED ONTHEIR PROFILE PICS. I know very little about Tsukicro, aside of the fact they were put on backburner for a while now...  
> Thanks for reading and yes, the 'Shu-can't-hold-back-when-buying-sweets-for-his-sons-hence-cream-puff-party' joke will appear a few times still!


	13. Flare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing was SO WEIRD to write... like, I wrote the middle part even before finishing Tight/Night, but then, everything that happened before or after?? IT refused to come together, like completely. It didn't matter I knew what was going to happen, it just. Refused to be written. Because yes.  
> And once I wrote it int nyoomed past planned 7k like it was nothing -,-'  
> Anyway, with this chapter, we're officially 13 chapters in, and Dreamers is officially over 100k words long! As such, it officially becomes my longest story (also, a story with the most comments and second most viewed work, lol), thanks for sticking together with me! Let's aim for 200k!  
> (The worst part, it's quite real goal, even if I have maybe two-three more arcs started for it... oh well xD)

‘What is our Leader worrying over?’

Arms land on his shoulders and start kneading gently, and Shiki sighs.

‘Rikka.’ he looks up, and his Changed answers the mute request and leans down. It’s only once they separate does he repeat his question.

‘Seriously, Shiki. You keep it to yourself, but I can feel you worrying over something.’

‘Worry... huh.’ Shiki looks down at the scores in front of himself. ‘Do you think Tsubasa acted differently since the rescue?’

Rikka easily catches on to what his Changer referred, but he takes his time answering, wrapping his hands around the other's upper chest, and pressing chin into Leader’s shoulder.

‘I think... he might be frustrated with the not perfect result, in his opinion.’

Shiki snorts.

‘He normally whines about it, though.’

Rikka hesitates.

‘It might...’ he pauses, sighs, and moves onto sofa next to Shiki. ‘Remember all the theories during the Great Tragedy? About what caused it in the first place?’

Shiki looks away from the scores and nods.

‘I think it has to do with that.’ Rikka looks into distance. ‘That vampire screamed about „masters” saying the Puppetmasters will behave differently.’

‘Various forces were trying to confirm the origin of those for years, though.’ Shiki doesn’t contests, just points out, and Rikka nods.

‘But we came very close to getting an info from the direct source. And that source burned.’

‘It’s not enough to get Tsubasa riled up into being quiet.’ Shiki judges, and Rikka smiles; Tsubasa wasn’t quiet at all, but some of his usual flair was indeed absent from his daily behavior. ‘And definitely not enough to keep his Sound to himself that much.’

Rikka ‘oh’s. So, that was the part that worried Shiki the most.

Well, honestly, he should have predicted that. He hesitates once more.

‘Rikka, I can pick your mind about that suspicion of yours if you struggle for words, but I’d rather you tell me it.’ Shiki says slowly, and Rikka huffs softly.

‘Get out of my head, then, so I have space to collect my thoughts.’

‘You know it’s close to impossible.’ Shiki says, and Rikka smiles.

Yeah, he knew, but he also knew Shiki was a surprisingly considerate mind reader.

‘It’s...’ he sighs. ‘I think Tsubasa believes that thesis about Wanderers’ involvement in creation of the Black Despair and the rest is true.’

‘And why is this...’ Shiki frowns, before rapidly smoothing his expression. ‘Right. He’s the direct descendant.’

‘One hundred twenty eighth part Wanderer.’ Rikka chuckles, before sighing. ‘Although it seems like they deal with it great on the outside, Tsubasa seems to have a personal beef with the fact those can be behind all the cases until now.’

‘Are you surprised about that?’ dryly asks a voice from the door, and Rikka flinches before looking behind himself. Shiki turns much calmer, probably realising presence of his other Singer.

‘Dai. So, you believe the same reason Rikka does?’ he asks, and newcomer nods shortly.

‘You guys don’t really hold back when we ask you stuff, so.’ Dai explains. ‘I guess Tsubasa just realizes it’s an irrational mindset, and that’s why he keeps to himself. He’ll get over it.’

With that, he makes to the kitchen, pulling out a cup.

‘Anybody wants juice?’

‘I’m good, although set that kettle. I’m up for some coffee.’ Shiki answers, ignoring Rikka’s pointed sigh, and asking. ‘And Tsubasa’s reason for feeling more responsible this time is?’

Dai takes his time to sip at the juice before looking at Rikka. Shiki ohs.

‘Right. You knew about Rikka’s history because we’ve told you it.’ he huff. ‘Knowing Tsubasa, he also checked his family archives regarding the case.’

‘He did.’ Dai agrees. ‘But, in a Duet, it’s a bit...’

Shiki sighs.

‘So, our chick is trying to pinpoint the culprits behind the Black Despair not because they possibly are related to him, but because they’re possibly those that had once hurt Rikka. And now he knows how deep the injury was.’

‘And you.’ Dai points out. ‘You were in a tough spot during the Tragedy as well, weren’t you? And your Duet with Tsubasa hid even less of yourself than mine with Rikka did.’

‘Right.’ Shiki huffs. ‘He could’ve shown the concern more.’

He pauses.

‘Although, if that’s the concern he shows right now, I’m fine with him being absolute brat.’

‘And why are you gossiping about me now?’ comes fourth voice, and Tsubasa practically throws himself at them. Shiki just grunts, while Rikka chuckles. Just as with Dai, Shiki was aware of hunter coming in, but, as with everything, he refused to keep his opinions away from the other High.

‘Weren’t you supposed to have a meeting?’ he still answers with a question of his own. ‘With your-’

‘Aunt.’ Tsubasa fills in. ‘The information and social politics branch of Okui. I’m doing it for your little brother’s kids, so better be grateful!’

‘Speaking of them, did you eat the cream puffs I brought?’ Rikka looks between the two men. ‘Eichi says they still have more reserved in two other bakeries of Izumi, so once the better opportunity arises, we’re invited to test them as well.’

Tsubasa snorts, looking at Dai with unrestrained amusement. For his credit, his partner didn’t even blush when nodding.

‘Shu really ended up-’

‘Really.’ Rikka confirms. ‘Eichi says he might try to change order to something else, just so that Issei and Ichiru won’t get fed up with one type of sweets all the time...’

He visibly deflates.

‘Not that they are in condition to get fed up with food.’

Tsubasa hums.

‘That bad? You were the only one who was on that "party" three days ago.’

‘Because you were still under observation and Shiki refused to leave you alone, or else you’ll do something reckless.’ Rikka points out, then sighs. ‘But, answering your question, yes, they still are recovering, and that Crystal reading didn’t help at all, even if twins were practically tangled together all the time. They got rid of a fever just a day prior, and once we finished, it was back, slight, but it was. Aside of that, they look like they’re eating only because they don’t want to waste Eichi’s effort. Shu says their cores are regenerating rapidly, but it’s not surprising, they are together non-stop.’

‘And yet, they do their best to finish this case.’ Dai sighs. ‘Seriously.’

Rikka smiles softly.

‘Are you the one to say that?’ he says gently, and Dai looks away. ‘I think they keep thinking about it in terms of making the shelter safer for each other. Which is true.’

‘I’m pretty sure Eichi and Shu help as well.’ Tsubasa adds. ‘Did I hear correctly they don’t leave their kiddos alone?’

‘Shu definitely does, he’s got a Group to manage.’ dryly says Shiki, before pausing. ‘But, it’s true he seems to be spending all his free time in the dorms.’

‘Eichi does most of watching.’ Rikka confirms. ‘Since both me and Kouki were present at that cream puff party, we decided it’s safe to presume we can visit, and every time I come over, he’s with them.’

Shiki stands up with a sigh.

‘We will have an occasion to confirm it on the meeting this afternoon.’ he says. ‘Independent forces requested we allow them to read the Memory Crystal, but Shu - and, frankly saying, all water users in Tsukino - think it’s not the best idea, considering what Issei is, on top of being a twin and a still learning Field member, so. Issei agreed to read the Crystal in front of representatives.’

‘He what now?’ Rikka looks in disbelief. ‘And Shu-’

‘He’s against the idea, but can’t deny it, since it happens with Issei’s consent.’ Shiki answers. ‘Doesn’t mean he won’t be there and stop the session as soon as he senses something wrong with his Singer. Though I agree I’d prefer for those two to get to rest instead. They were said to be regenerated by the end of this week, if they were left alone. As it is, they're going to extend this into next week, and god knows how long it will be, actually. Hopefully not too long...’

‘Only somebody without a heart could think otherwise.’ dryly says Dai. ‘Those two did so much, and it was their first time working with Battle forces, too, any Battle forces...’

They pause their talk, contemplating for a bit.

‘Make me one, too, Darling.’ Tsubasa suddenly calls in the direction of the vampire in the kitchen, who just grunts in answer. ‘We probably need to go out at the same time anyway, so I might as well use your coffee and check on the thing you’re struggling with.’

‘I doubt I would struggle, if you’d let your sound out naturally, instead of hiding it beneath all that pointless frustration.’ Shiki returns, setting yellow cup in front of the hunter, letting the scent of perfectly brewed coffee fill all of the common room space. Tsubasa scowls at him.

‘So, that was what you were gossiping about, when I came.’

‘More or less.’ dryly answers Shiki, and Rikka shifts uncomfortably. ‘If you’re worried about us, don’t. Rikka is now completely capable of frying anybody going after him, and the only dear people we might lose are you two. And rest of the Tsukino forces, I guess. They’re pretty good kids, all of them.’

Tsubasa snickers.

‘And you wonder why I call you Dad all the time...’ he shakes his head. ‘Alright, I get it, but don’t blame me - you don’t get to be glared at by the people you rescue, just because you have the same eyes as the beings that have hurt them.’

‘No, because I have the same teeth.’ dryly says Shiki, prompting a weak snort from Rikka and Dai, and a chuckle from Tsubasa. He can notice hunter’s shoulders relaxing. ‘Technically speaking, exact same teeth people who've hurt Rikka and Dai had, and yet, look at those two, never bothered by the similarities. So, if you worry about that, we can worry together, even if it's unnecessary, as opposed to some other things.’

‘Is that an indirect request to look at your newest work?’ Tsubasa leans against the High sitting at his side and winks at him. ‘Because it seems you worry over that.’

Shiki huffs.

‘If you let your sound flow, it should not be a probem. Once you stop worrying Rikka and Dai, I can figure out this convoluted mess that these next Songs are. Probably.’

They all blink at that.

‘Songs? Multiple?’

‘Yeah.’ Shiki spreads the sheets in front of them on the coffee table. ‘Rikka, before you scold me for starting too much at once again, those cannot be worked on in any other way. They are Solos, but they are also entangled with each other, however strange that would sound.’

‘Solos entangled with other Songs?’ Tsubasa tilts his head. ‘I think I can see that, but also, they seem entangled with people? People not their Singers, I mean. And also, their look is quite...’

‘Yeah.’ Shiki points at the four stacks. ‘Four versions of one element, four usages of it. Like the four pictures...’

‘Or four wonders.’ points out Dai and Rikka hums.

‘Like the four wonders of nature?’ he asks, and Dai nods. ‘So, flower, bird, wind and moon...’

‘Kachoufuugetsu, huh.’ Shiki looks down. ‘Which is plausible, considering what it looks like, to me, but. Say, Tsubasa, did you have a Soul Spirit as a relative, or something?’

‘Huh?’ hunter blinks at him.

‘Yours’ signature is the only one animated, alive, like a bird in the four wonders.’ Shiki explains. ‘Rikka’s affinity is obvious, even if it’s entangled with Dai’s, but that is also understabable to a certain degree - Dai’s feels like a mix between water and fire, and that can be only wind. I cannot see my affinity, but considering how vampires are considered night beings, and Highs are higher quality representatives of the race, I’d say moon is mine-’

‘You just want to postpone working on your own Solo.’ Tsubasa accuses, and Shiki grunts, before continuing as if nobody exposed him:

‘Which leaves you as the bird, and... now that you’re opening up again I can clearly see where it comes from, but...’

‘Sorry to disappoint, but we’re not the type to attract Soul Spirits.’ Tsubasa frowns softly. ’Which is weird actually, since we’re on quite good terms with Etous.’

‘Is that so...’ Shiki asks, but there’s no disappointment, only consideration in his voice. ‘Anyway, I think it’s obvious after what I’ve said previously, but just as the flower is entangled with the wind, the bird seems to be entangled with the moon the most. The other connections are also there, but then again...’

He groans. Tsubasa looks around them, before nodding sympathetically.

‘I can see where you’re coming from.’ he says slowly. ‘Flower entangled with bird, but also blooming under the moon, tide raising in answer to squall, bird flying on the wind towards the blooming lily... it looks like complicated image, but. I like it.’

‘Seems suitable for the mess we are. ’ Dai says, prompting Rikka to chuckle.

‘Now I’m getting kind of excited. I want to see finished result.’

‘It will take some time.’ Shiki warns, even as he already scribbles something on the stacks in front of them. Rikka can see ‘lily’ ‘bird’ ‘squall’ and ‘tide’ written out messily at the top of each page. Then Shiki looks at Tsubasa, long enough to make the hunter shift under his stare.

‘What?’

Shiki doesn’t answer. Instead, he crosses out the ‘bird’ on the second stack, and changes it to ‘canary’. Rikka chuckles, and Dai looks over his shoulder, before reading it and snorting as well. Tsubasa gawks.

‘Oi?! Don’t judge people by the color of their hair?!’

‘Calm down, chick.’ Shiki grunts. ‘Those are just loose pointers. For now.’

He reaches for his cup, after looking at the clock on the wall.

‘We need to finish that one other case, before I will be able to finish those, though.’

Tsubasa also looks at the clock and also reaches for coffee with a soft sigh.

‘Right. Time to leave, or auntie will get annoyed. She hates people coming late for appointments.’

‘Your aunt is?’ Rikka asks with interest, and Tsubasa smiles, somewhat forcedly.

‘Lawyer.’

*

‘Etou.’

It takes him a second to realize the voice that has called him doesn’t come from the group he and Ryota just left, and therefore, doesn't belong to one of the Etou advisers. Upon turning, he realizes his mistake was almost comical.

‘Takamura-san, Rikka-san.’ he greets. ‘Good day to you.’

‘No matter how many times you do it, it won’t stop sounding strange.’ Shiki dryly comments, nodding to Ryota, standing just behind Kouki’s shoulder. ‘Even if I know it’s political necessity. Your assist is only Sakuraba today?’

‘Indeed. Ken has his molting season. Completely normal occurrence, but he needs to rest as much as he can.’ Kouki explains.

‘He’s definitely not against lazing around.’ Ryota mutters, prompting soft smile from Rikka. At this point, all of Tsukino knew Kouki’s retainers were throwing jabs at each other just not to fall out of their roles as the heirs of opposing families when outside. Right now, Changer supposed the comment was meant to mask concern, and look on Kouki’s face only confirmed that suspicion.

‘I see. Let’s hope we’re not needed on the Field for the time being.’ Shiki says, before looking above his shoulder. ‘Human Spirit Users meeting?’

‘Ah, yes.’ Kouki looks slightly behind himself. ‘Those are representatives of all of the Etou domain, we needed to organize a schedule for the works for all of our territories.’

‘All?’ Shiki frowns, but somehow, Kouki can see it’s more out of confusion. ‘There’s no other vampire Users, aside of Fujimura?’

Kouki blinks.

‘There are, they’re just less than a quarter of population?’ he says, and other High looks above his shoulder. ‘Though lately we’ve been seeing slight decline of those numbers...’

‘You wouldn’t guess they even exist, looking at that gathering.’

Kouki blinks, also looking behind himself. What did Shiki...

_Oh._

‘Actually, now that you say it.’ he says slowly, looking at the group of exclusively humans. ‘I’ve never thought it as strange, previously, however...’

‘It’s not my business, but you’ll do good to find a representative for them, before somebody will start screaming about unfair treatment.’ Shiki says quietly. ‘And I’m not saying that just because I’m a vampire.’

‘Experience speaking?’ Ryota says quietly, but Shiki just nods.

‘You were born in shelter age already, but I became head of my clan before the Great Tragedy and all the mess it involved. And Takamuras were known for proper relations with humans living on their territories.’

‘Meaning?’ Kouki asks, slightly confused. Rikka explains, as they start to move in the direction of a tall building in the middle of the shelter, people naturally keeping away from group consisting of uniformed men and vampires.

‘That hunters weren’t called to the villages managed by the clan, because vampires dealt with their kin breaking agreements and hurting people without outside prompting.’ he says, before looking at Shiki. ‘According to my information, my case was the first in ages where hunters had to be involved and it mostly was because, well...’

‘Wanderers.’ humans chorus, and both Rikka and Shiki sigh in agreement.

‘Which leads us perfectly back to the present.’ mutters Ryota. ‘Did we hear correctly that..’

‘If it’s them, they made sure not to leave any definite evidences.’ Rikka says with a bitter smile. ‘I even had to destroy one possible witness myself, or he’d infect Tsubasa.’

All of them sigh.

‘At least we have the information Quell’s twins worked hard at providing for us.’ Ryota says, and Kouki shifts uneasily.

‘I don’t like the fact we’re making them work even more.’ he admits quietly, just as they reach wide, white stairs, leading to the Hoshizumo Organization’s main base, and the place of their today’s meeting. ‘Takamura-san, do you-’

‘You and Rikka saw them more than I did.’ Shiki answers unasked question. ‘But, well, according to intel that slips from the Izumi group to me, Shu spends any free moment in the dorms, so. We can only hope he’s managed to help them get better.’

*

They get directed to a room in the middle of the building, enhanced with protection glyphs, preventing anybody from hearing what happens inside, or breaking into it once the doors are closed.

Ryota is a bit unsettled by it, Rikka notes, but doesn’t show it outwardly. It was probably his Soul Spirit presenting displeasure at being in an enclosed space...

Shu is already there, and they pause for a moment, hesitant to get closer.

Vampire’s arm was wrapped protectively around the boy that looked much smaller than his age would suggest. Probably due to the fact he was the only child next to his leader...

‘Shu, Issei.’ finally, Rikka speaks up softly, then freezes, because Issei flinches, before turning in their direction. His eyes weren’t glassy, but they were wide and looked slightly unfocused. Rikka knew those symptoms...

‘Issei.’ Shu first addresses his Unitmate, and the twin sinks back into his embrace, nodding to newcomers. ‘Hello there. Sorry for not waiting for you, but we thought getting used to the surroundings first will be easier.’

‘Good morning.’ Issei adds quietly, not looking at anybody in particular. Shiki hums.

‘There’s a reason you’ve decided to bring only Issei?’ he asks. ‘Aside of the confidential nature of this meeting; I doubt it would stop you.’

Shu smiles tiredly.

‘Ichiru’s core was acting up, making him feverish.’ he answers, raising his hand to pat Issei. ‘Eichi has set up protections to help him control it in our dorm, but getting them onto either Ichiru or Issei in their current state was impossible. Issei insisted he wants to try and read Memory Crystal despite that, but...’

‘You really don’t get a break, any of you.’ Shiki sighs. ‘So, I presume it would be advantageous to hurry up and get the meeting started, so that you don’t have to separate kids for too long.’

‘We’re fine.’ Issei protests, but shrinks under Shiki’s stare.

‘You don’t look fine.’ Solids leader says frankly, before grunting. ‘What was that for, Rikka?!’

‘Being insensitive.’ Rikka answers, massaging his hand, even as he turns towards Quell. ‘Sorry about him.’

Shu looks as if he was fighting back a smile, but Issei looks at Solids vampires still with wide eyes. Maybe just slightly more focused.

‘It’s... okay.’ older twin finally says. ‘We know each other, so...’

‘Right.’ Rikka smiles softly. ‘Tell us if you feel worse suddenly?’

Issei just nods. Rikka suddenly realizes why Shu keeps constant physical contact with the twin, even though he normally was not nearly as touchy-feely, respecting his Singers’ personal space unless they requested otherwise.

The cores of two water Elementals were also huddled together, so close Shu’s almost absorbed Issei’s. It stabilized younger Elemental, more than anybody else in the room could do.

And not enough to make up for absence of Ichiru.

‘Say, Izumi-san, Issei... is that the first time you two are apart from Ichiru since the mission?’ Ryota suddenly asks, probably noticing the same thing Rikka did, and Kouki blinks, expression morphing to concerned once Issei nods.

‘It’s okay. We discussed it with each other. Consciously, we know it’s fine.’ older twin seems to become aware of the worry hunters voice out loud. ‘We can... I can do it.’

‘If you say so...’ Kouki hesitatingly says after looking at Shu. ‘But, do tell us if you feel you cannot stand it anymore, alright? Izumi-san isn’t the only one who wants to help you.’

That coaxes a shy smile from the twin.

‘I know. Thank you.’ he whispers, leaning more into the vampire at his side. Shu smiles as well.

‘Will Soara have a...’ he asks, before door open and both Hajime and Soushi walks through them. ‘Ah.’

‘Sorry for being late, last second changes happened.’ he stoically says, walking towards the chair usually occupied by Morihito. Wakatsuki walks quietly behind him. ‘Sora got a bout of inspiration, and I got scared of leaving him alone with Nozomu. Ren can control only one idiot at a time.’

‘Sounds tiring.’ Shu says, though there are notes of slight amusement in his voice. As if to answer his emotions, Issei relaxes more into embrace. Soushi looks at Quell representatives.

‘Not more tiring than what you’re going through.’ he says, but before they can continue chatter, the remaining representatives fill into the room. Issei stiffens, but beyond that, doesn’t do much to avoid gathering attention to himself. He still gets few curious stares.

‘Did we get the hour wrong?’ jokes old headmaster Hikari, representing Kouki’s old school. It’s Kouki who answers him, as well.

‘Ah, no, we just ended up coming before the time.’ he says, quickly sweeping over other Tsukino representatives.

‘General unfortunately will be unable to come, we were told to figure further course of action alone. Wakatsuki-san is responsible for passing our decisions and managing communication, I presume.’ Hajime fills in.

‘Correct.’ vampire nods quickly. ‘This way, you won’t be burdened with delayed vetoes of any nature, enabling us to work quickly.’

Hoshizumo representative hums, taking his place.

‘I presume the reason why you’ve called us so urgently is related to why both Izumi and Kisaragi groups seem to be in the highest state of attention in the shelter?’

‘They got... forewarning, who to be wary of.’ admits Shu. ‘However, it seems our people were just as frustrated with situation as people having nothing in common with vampires, because our forces seemed to create independent observing units, watching any culprits walking freely still.’

‘And who it may... no, never mind. We will get to it in the span of the meeting.’ Hirari says, taking his own seat, before turning to the host of today’s meet. ‘Since everybody is before the time anyway, should we start?’

The other man nods.

*

The world is hazy.

He knows it’s not only because his core is still trying to relearn how to keep its’ control over the water, both inside and outside of him. It’s also because the core that is pure power, yet is a clear mirror reflection of his, isn’t there, and no matter how the bigger water Elemental core tries to mask it, the absence is almost physical.

Issei does wonder why he feels it this much. It wasn’t like he and Ichiru weren’t located at different working stations, back at the factory, and it wasn’t like they didn’t know, logically, where each other was right now, safe, different to what happened in the vampire’s camp. Still...

Separation hurt in the same subconscious way that the awareness of the lack of air when submerged hurt - if you don’t draw a breath in soon, you’ll suffocate, but your consciousness knows that if you _do breathe_ , you’ll drown.

It felt too complicated. His brain felt hazy and honestly speaking, Issei wanted to just bury his face in Ichiru’s chest and sleep away rest of the day.

If the world they lived in had been different, he would be doing just that, Shu and Eichi fawning over how cute his coping mechanisms were.

Unfortunately, they were in the world where the outside was constantly threatening with an illness that could kill within minutes, and inside were people capable of hurting weaker and actually willing to do it. And, by all means, he and Ichiru were...

His core reacts with violent twist that almost affects his body, and he rushes to cover the pendant on his chest with a hand. Nobody needed to see it was shining with protection that now spread all over him in a soothing wave.

‘Issei?’ Shu’s voice resounds, and he blinks, trying to clear his mind and sight. He looks up, at his leader. ‘Are you okay?’

He nods. He was well past the level where just an upsetting thought was enough to tip the fragile balance over and ruin his control over his power. Shu still looks concerned, but he nods back, and that builds Issei’s confidence more than anything else could.

If Shu trusts him to manage, he _can_ manage. Shu has never expected of them things they couldn’t do.

It still is hard. They can feel each other through their connection, but because of the events that happened in the camp, it was too unstable to use it on longer distances. Shu forced their separation for Issei’s sake, just before he lost consciousness after creating Water Crystal, and it probably saved his actual memories from being wiped out, if not saved him from becoming crippled, but well.

While they still could freely communicate when touching, he had to abstain from reaching out to Ichiru in fear of both of them diving too deep into the bond, losing touch with reality as a result.

They can do that when they’re back together, asleep...

‘I think you didn’t believe us when we’ve said it’s not the wisest idea to untangle Memory Crystal’s information, even by a specialist, without creator’s presence.’ comes dry voice of Shiki-san just next to himself, but the thing that shakes Issei out of his musings is tensing in Shu’s body. Vampire kept his posture relaxed for Issei’s sake, to keep reassuring him physically as much as his core’s protection reassured him inwardly. The fact his leader couldn’t completely hide his discomfort could only mean one thing...

‘Therefore, we’d thought it would be wiser to simply show you. Which kind of puts us in a bind, since it extends Shield’s recovery time, but well. If it convinces you we’re not hiding anything and faking the data we provide.’ Soushi continues, before looking behind Shiki’s back at Quell’s representatives. ‘You still up for it? Nobody will get angry if you say no.’

Issei realizes his lips only quirk upwards momentarily instead of a reassuring smile he’s aimed at. He nods.

He hasn’t made all this way away from Ichiru just to back away. And if he’s going to complain about the state of the world he lives in, he might as well do something to better it. Like convincing people around the table, now with various degrees of disbelief staring at him, to help them get rid of vampires thinking of children as nothing more than a cargo...

Even if his palms suddenly sweat, and his body stops listening to him, tensing despite the overall exhaustion he feels, and his voice refuses to get out.

Normally, Ichiru would speak up for both of them in that situation...

He feels the tug and overwhelming but incredibly comforting pressure of water, water that understands even when he keeps quiet, hears a Song even when Issei cannot even use his voice.

Even if it wasn’t Ichiru.

He is wrapped in the gentle but firm side hug of Shu, which definitely helped, although that emptiness at his other side... and the connection within him sends only distress signals...

_No._

He needs to ignore it for now, focus on the duty, the task assigned. Ichiru had Eichi with him, it was going to be fine, and he was going back to him after that meeting, definitely. He breathes out. The quicker he gathers himself, the sooner they get back together.

‘Issei.’ Shu says, so low that it was definitely meant only for him, and he looks up. His leader’s eyes are concerned. ‘Think you can do it?’

Issei focuses his eyes on the dark blue stone just in front of their seats, and stiffens, before bracing himself.

It was not going to be easy, but he needed to make sure those men will capture everyone responsible for misery he and Ichiru experienced, and all the fear and discomfort all those kids went through...

Gentle hand pats his hair down.

‘Don’t think too much about consequences.’ Shu’s voice is even quieter now. ‘If you can do it, it’s great, but if not-’

‘I’ll do it.’ Issei interrupts him, then swallows - his voice came out as a whisper at first, then hitched on second word. He takes a deep breath and repeats, ‘I’ll do it. Which moment do you want to start from?’

‘From the moment you two were knocked out.’ Shu says, still stroking his hair gently. ‘We have few highlights we want to show everyone afterwards, but tell me when you can’t take it anymore. It’s true the Water Memory user has the best control on the stored memories, but I’m sure everyone will understand.’

Issei just nods, before extracting himself from Shu’s hug and standing up, doing his best to ignore frowns from the human side of the room. They were probably suspecting Shu of manipulating him or something, anyway, and were not necessarily against Issei himself.

He takes a deep breath. Lets his senses become one with the water. Fights through the deafening silence of lack of second heartbeat, second flow of water system, chaotic yet controlled, next to him. Then reaches his hand out for the crystal.

Sensations almost instantly become too much, and he jerks in surprise, but then catches, and clings to one thought.

_This is just a memory._

It helps him see better, the people and vampires in the room being transported with him, to that side-alley, to the sound of Ichiru’s slightly quickened breath, as his brother first catches the sensation of somebody creeping up towards them, and as they consciously force themselves to pretend to just feel slightly uncomfortable rather than fully aware of what would transpire in a moment. Issei reaches out to his chest instinctively, and the feeling of a pendant there, present and protecting him properly, helps in separating himself of the now from the Issei in the memories.

The memory goes dark only after short scuffle they put up instinctively, fighting against holds of their captors, already pressing the cloths to their mouths, muffling any possible screams and making them limp down, powerless. Issei remembers smelling sharp scent on those cloths, but he wasn't capable of registering it within the Memory... oh well.

He catches somebody from the room saying something about 'poppy perfume' and about how it would knock out an adult man. He focuses back on what he saved in the crystal.

Unconsciousness is where Water Memory true worth kicks in, and Issei for the first time hears - because his ears have registered it once already - the hushed but obviously excited talk of their captors, of ‘hurry up’s and ‘lucky’, of ‘perfect catch’ and ‘Rare Prey’. He swallows. No wonder his body was instantly tensing up once he woke up...

There were two or three names thrown around during that talk, and the room gasps at some of them, while Shu nods.

‘Issei.’ he speaks up, and the twin tilts his head minimally, to show he's listening. ‘Try to skip to that exchange you had once you woke up.’

This was a bright point, compared to the time Water Memory recorded only darkness behind his eyelids, and Issei manages to pinpoint the moment effortlessly. Sneer of Toya, staring above them, resounds in everybody’s minds, and Issei shudders. He once again hears Ichiru trying to protect him, and then trying to drag out as much as they could from the vampires around them, before they are thrown into that cage.

‘Bring in the reports of the other decoys.’ Shu’s even voice requests, and Issei moves to a thicker-layered memory, where he can feel both the communication with Ichiru, his own constant analysis of the signs shown to him and made by his own hands, and the voices his ears registered. It’s actually interesting, he feels like it’s the first time he’s hearing those reports, but that’s just because his focus was elsewhere back then, in that shed...

The stories are pretty similar to their own, a dreadful kidnapping, then some kind of slip that makes the vampires react aggressively, and decoys’ trained reflexes kick in before they can control them, effectively outing them before they can run away and bring the info back.

Issei feels, past the bile that forms in his throat, that he and Ichiru were really lucky to have less than twenty four hours contact with their captors.

‘Try the moment just before you were separated next.’ Shu says, and there’s tenseness in his voice, meaning that he was trying to withhold his emotions so as not to distract Issei.

Issei would prefer he didn’t try to hold them back - it would make easier trying not to get swallowed by his own fear and stress and mute worry for Ichiru that underlined it all.

There’s more names thrown above them, as vampire guards ignore the children in cages and talk about the matters regarding the future cargo transport, and the plan to approach next location in Tokyo, and then the-

 _Issei feels his heart raising to his throat, when he feels cold sensation of Izushimo’s power sweeping over them, localizing them_ and can hear few sharp inhales in the room. Of course, High's power sweeping over this large area is a terrifying picture, even in memory...

 _They jump as there’s a sound of something hitting bars of their cage, shaking the whole construction, and they tense, jerking upwards, but before they are able to do more, at least two sets of arms tug at each of them, separating them_ and current Issei’s body responds by getting overwhelmed, because both the then and the now feeling of emptiness by his side is very real and very present sensation, and he can’t- he has to- but, he can’t even _breathe_ -

_‘It was you!’ hisses the voice above him..._

_...Vampire hit Ichiru, so hard his brother fell to the ground..._

_...Hands grip his arms and shoulders. Another, ice cold one, grips back of his neck. Against himself, he whimpers, but even then, his focus is still on Ichiru..._

_...Issei can only look as the vampire once again pins Ichiru to the ground, despite his brother’s struggling, and leans over him..._

‘S-Shu.’ he manages to choke out before his own breath stifles his voice, but it’s enough, and he hears a very loud screech of the chair being violently pulled away, tearing through memory. Seconds later he has a hand on his shoulder, and his other palm is pulled away from the Memory Crystal, stone tumbling on the table, away from him, and there is bright blue in front of his vision.

There was no blue in that camp-

‘Issei, come back.’ Shu calls out to him, gentle but demanding, and his body shudders, lungs finally drawing a proper breath in. Shu repeats, worry and concern in his voice. ‘Come back here, Issei, it’s over. It's okay, now.’

Shu pulls him in for a hug only after Issei's eyes manage to focus on his face, and breath is properly entering teenager's lungs. Issei clings to his leader, not caring how it looks from the outside, because the sensation of being able to cling to something, to someone, counters the sensation of helplessness of the bound, powerless body, that can only stare as its’ other half is torn away from it. Sensation of hands wrapping around him in a reassuring hug helps to counter the memory of the hands twisting his arms away, and holding him back while Ichiru was hurt, then pulling him away, away...

The hug tightens slightly, reminding him to stay here, stay in the now. Shu once again pets his head, and his hands feel shockingly warm, for a vampire.

‘Issei, I’m so sorry. You were doing so good, and I didn't notice...’ Shu’s voice says above his head, quiet, even, reassuring. ‘It’s okay now. I got you. Nothing bad will happen. Both of you are alright.’

He feels warmth of the other water core, cutting him completely away from the Memory crystal, wrapping in the cocoon of familiar reassurance. It almost feel surreal, that he could think he still was in that camp, when the overwhelming presence of the stronger Elemental was wrapping around him like that, but.

His neck still hurts in the place he was held at to look at Ichiru being pummeled to the ground.

No, this happened days ago, and if he goes through with it, he can make sure those vampires will never even see Ichiru again.

He pushes back, trying to relax his hands, let go of the front of Shu’s coat; it’s surprisingly hard.

‘Sorry for the break.’ he shakes his head, swallows the way his voice wants to slip into uncontrollable weep for his brother. ‘We can-’

‘No, Issei.’ Shu opposes him, bending down to be face to face with him, hands still securely at his shoulders. ‘We won’t continue.’

‘Eh? But, I’m-!’ Issei knows Shu says it out of the care for him, but this cannot stand in the way of Ichiru, of all those children’s safety, and he already can suspect that the next memories are those dense with impulses, the ones where only he can untangle feelings that a human, a twin, an Elemental and Singer can feel all at once-

‘Issei, look here.’ Shu says, and Issei feels his hand being carefully raised. He stares with some confusion at the shaking limb. Was he... this badly affected?

‘Memory is not something that is supposed to be reviewed with this vivid accuracy, this many times.’ Shu says gently, wrapping both his hands around Issei’s. ‘Especially not the ones Water Memory records; there’s a reason our brains choose to focus on one and ignore other impulses. We would go mad if we were aware of all of them equally.’

He pets Issei’s hair again.

‘Water Memory is a dangerous technique that you did amazing to utilize until now. You don’t need to give us more of your health, Issei.’

‘But, Shu... the next memories are... were...’ he fumbles for words. ‘I can- but if others do, they get hurt... that’s why-’

‘From the looks of it, you’re the one hurt the most right now.’ Shiki, until now sitting quietly just as the rest of the room, speaks up, and Issei flinches on reflex. ‘See. Your body returned to the habits you’ve had on our first meeting, and I can only guess your brother is as bad if not worse, right now.’

He knows Shiki is right, but the truth remains the truth.

‘But, those memories-’

‘You’ve untangled them once, that’s enough.’ another soft voice speaks up, and Issei’s body reacts with confusion, because part of it tenses up at the presence of the vampire-not-Shu close by, while the other reacts with relaxation to the familiar soothing feeling Eichi’s presence brought in Quell. Rikka notices it, for he leaves the cup just next to Shu on the table, before withdrawing back behind Shiki’s seat. His Changer nods at him.

‘Shu, have Issei drink that.’ he says to the other High. ‘According to Rikka, chocolate would be better, but the juice needs to be enough for now.’

‘I see.’ Shu says, before making Issei sit in his original place. Issei feels hazy with information he tries to comprehend, too confused to try and manage shaking of his hand, but Shu seems not to mind, as he helps the twin drink. The fruity flavor in his mouth surprises Issei, but it seems to rip at the mist that fills his head whenever he tries to look away from the fear the memories invoked in him.

It’s not necessary a good thing, because the panic is back, only this time, it’s not his, and Issei’s eyes widen.

Shu observes as the younger Elemental, not really aware of what was going on with him for the past minute or so, with pinpoint accuracy turns to where their dorms were, head lifted at such an angle that, had they been in front of the building, Shu was sure he would be staring at their floor. His mouth form an unconscious name, and suddenly Shu can feel the burst of a connection, until now hidden securely within the boy, blue pendant flaring with protection glyph trying to soothe sudden, panicked spike of its owner’s energy core.

Issei starts shaking, but for much different reasons than before. Shu can feel him reaching back, reaching out to Ichiru, risks of using still mending connection be damned, but just as previously with Issei’s panic attack, it seemed Ichiru’s feelings would not settle easily without his brother’s direct presence at his side.

And honestly? Shu looks at the clock. It was long enough that the twins were made to be apart for the sake of the others. It was time for others to work for their sake.

‘Issei.’ he touches the boy’s cheek, redirecting his face to look at him. It’s hot. Not good, if Issei develops another fever out of stress... ‘Listen to me. I’m going to call someone from my Group to get you back to the dorms. You’ll go to Ichiru in a moment, so hold on for a bit longer, alright? It will be okay.’

He has to add, because Issei looks torn at the Memory Crystal, still on the table.

‘I can manage few of your memories, and we’ve seen the most important ones already. Go back and rest properly, Issei.’

Issei swallows hard, but the pendant’s glint dims, meaning twin was doing his best to hold it together. He nods, and Shu smiles in pride, standing up from in front of Issei’s chair.

‘Shu.’ Shiki speaks again, and this time, Issei doesn’t flinch. ‘Let Rikka take him home. It will be quicker than getting one of your people here, plus you’ll know he’s safe as soon as they reach the dorms.’

‘Eh?’ Shu and Issei chorus that, and Rikka smiles softly.

‘I had something to discuss with Eichi anyway.’ he says, then looks at the boy sitting next to the High. ‘If you think you can do it?’

Issei shudders, his eyes glazing over. He stands up, stumbles, and then catches his balance before Shu can catch him.

‘Let’s go. Ichiru’s hurting.’ he says, not noticing the worried glances thrown at him. Rikka exchanges looks with one, then other High of the SQ, before coming and wrapping his arm around the younger boy.

‘Alright then, let’s go help him.’

The thought about his brother getting better is obviously what makes Issei gather his power and straighten from his slightly crouched over position.

Shiki sighs, as soon as the door behind the two close.

‘If I’m honest, I hundred percent expected him to cave in mid-reports.’ he confesses. ‘He managed to properly register them while staying away from his brother and planning an escape route with other decoys, right?’

‘Yeah.’ Shu absentmindedly says, staring at the door. Shiki sighs again.

‘They’ve just got to the road. The sun seems to help Issei.’ he informs the other High. ‘Seriously, Shu. Rikka would report live if he knew that was what will calm you down, but since we both know you won’t relax until you see your children curled together and sleeping like two kittens, you won’t settle down, so. Let’s get this meeting going and over with.’

‘R-Right.’ Shu turns back to the table reluctantly, before something registers with him, and he blinks. ‘How did you know they look like-’

‘Eichi-san showed me and Rikka-san pictures during meets.’ Kouki, until then also sitting quiet with the rest of the room, says softly. ‘They looked really comfortable, too.’

‘I feel like we miss precious info just by not having a guy passionate about cooking in Soara.’ Soushi mutters softly, Hajime looking consideringly at him and Kouki.

‘Is that this one way of sleeping where they seem to be unaware they’re two separate beings?’ he asks, and Shu blinks. ‘If that’s so, then our twins used to do that, too.’

‘So, fraternal twins do it, too.’ muses former headmaster Hikari, before blinking his eyes. ‘Although that’s not what we were supposed to work on.’

‘Right.’ everybody in the room chorus as one, before looking at the blue stone on the table.

‘I think we’ve seen just enough to grasp why it was impossible to allow memory readers from outside your forces to read through those.’ slowly admits Hikari. ‘I’m still in complete shock how a fourteen year old managed to record this amount of information-’

‘At the price you yourself just saw.’ Shu answers somewhat bitterly, but Hikari shakes his head.

‘I’ve heard of cases of adult people going mad after learning only brief workings of Water Memory. While being shaken is natural at his age - you yourself have said it, those memories are more detailed than a human brain can take in the longer run - it remains undisputed that your Unitmate has mastered the technique thoroughly, rather than being taught just the bare minimum.’

He sighs.

‘That being said, even you will need to have at least two-three people working on untangling those without him, and it will take some time-’

‘Sir, Rikka-san has already said that, but,’ Kouki says, with apologetic expression interrupting older man, ‘Issei has untangled those memories once already. We have the list of most important names and places, as well as charges against all offenders written down.’

He continues in the face of shocked hunters and vampires around the room while Ryota behind his chair looks on smugly.

‘We wanted to make sure you knew we don’t bring those up at random, that there’s a physical - well, more or less - proof supporting all of our claims before we request your support in carrying out the arrests and so on.’ Kouki wraps up, looking at the stone. ‘Though we wouldn’t go through with it, if Issei didn’t insist he can do it. But, pushing the responsibility on a fourteen year old is quite irresponsible...’

‘Should you be the one saying it, Kou?’ Ryota, a man following Kouki and observing him perform responsible activities since the age of four, says softly.

‘You know what I mean, Ryo.’ Kouki returns just as soft. ‘They were just getting used to the way of the Field, too.’

‘We won’t help them feeling sorry about what happened.’ consciously points out Shiki. ‘So let’s hurry up and decide on the plan of action. I for one, don’t want to see any of the faces we just saw walking free ever again... and if we want them to serve their sentence alive, we’d better keep them far away from Shu.’

*

Rikka must say, considering amount of stress he underwent, he expected Issei to crumble on the road. However, twin seemed to keep surprising everyone today, because they make it to the elevator in their dorm building, before Rikka feels the boy leaning heavily against the wall, panting.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the child get hotter by the second. Rikka just sincerly hoped it was the result of trying to keep it all together alone, without a brother to circulate all the feelings and the fears around, lessening them, making them seem worthless, impossible fever nightmares.

‘We’re almost there, Issei.’ he says encouragingly, and twin looks at him with misty eyes. ‘You’re doing great. You both do.’

Truth be told, he isn’t sure Ichiru does, but, considering they had the dorm to return to still, it meant Ichiru was either keeping it under control, or keeping it together enough for Eichi to keep it under control.

Either was impressive.

They leave on the Quell floor, and Rikka helps Issei get to the door. Although the twin has a key on himself, Rikka decides to knock, just to alert Eichi.

Literally seconds after his knuckles leave the surface, the door opens.

‘Shu, Isse-’

Issei pushes past them with just a soft but stressed ‘Ichiru’ on his lips, before practically rushing to the living room. Even from the doorstep, Rikka can feel the tremor that makes all the containment runes on the room’s walls flash in alert, before it dies down, atmosphere changing to a crushing sense of relief.

‘Sorry, the meeting is still underway.’ he apologises, and Eichi turns to him, ready to protest and thank him for bringing Issei, no doubt. Instead, Rikka asks softly. ‘Can I come in? I want to send Shiki a confirmation to pass on to Shu.’

Eichi nods eagerly and opens the door just a lil bit wider. Together, they make it through the corridor, and are greeted by the sight of twins messily laying over each other, hugging for dear life.

‘Eichi.’ Issei voice sounds from the twin pile. ‘Sorry I was rude. I just-’

Eichi just shakes his head.

‘It’s okay Isse.’ he says, coming closer and carefully brushing twin’s hair away from his forehead. ‘But you have slight fever, so get under the cover, alright?’

Rikka notices red blanket just at twins’ other side, and mutely passes it to Eichi. Together, they arrange it and the deep blue one Ichiru was snuggling into around both boys, pillows from the sofa under their heads.

‘It would be better if we moved you to your beds...’ Eichi says and then drifts off as he see twins unconsciously shift even closer to each other, shaking. ‘Okay, I guess sofa it is for now.’

Twins nod, hairs spilling and mixing together, and Eichi smiles fondly.

‘I’m right here with Rikka-san, so call me if you need something, alright? For now, try to sleep.’

‘Eichi.’ twin voices chorus, and two hands grasp at hand he extended, once more trying to check Issei’s temperature.

‘Sorry we worry you like that.’ Issei says, and Eichi blinks.

‘We’re fine now, so you don’t have to look after us that much, alright?’ Ichiru adds. ‘We’ll get better soon, so you rest, too. ‘

‘Right. Shu will be tired after he returns-’ Issei’s voice takes on apologetic note, and Rikka decides to mix in.

‘And he’ll be definitely pleased if he sees both of you rested and better than before, so try to sleep now. Right?’ he says, and Eichi nods, obviously trying to hold his own emotions from overflowing. ‘Leave Eichi to me, you two. I promise when you wake up, he’ll be smiling at you.’

‘...Okay.’ two hands fall away from Eichi's, as twins' eyes slowly close with exhaustion. Eichi can see them shifting to have both their hands securely connected with their other half.

Rikka nods at him, and they back away to the kitchen.

‘Can you believe how precious they are even in that state?!’ Eichi whisper screams, and Rikka is pretty sure his speaker’s lips shake under the hand covering them, as green eyes above it get watery with unshed tears. Then, Eichi visibly pulls himself together. ‘Rikka-san, what happened at-’

‘I’m sure you and Shu predicted it.’ Rikka says softly. ‘Issei got overwhelmed by the emotions in the memories, and momentarily lost control. Ichiru probably felt that here, right?’

Eichi nods.

‘He looked really lost...’ Rikka can hear pain in his voice. ‘He didn’t seem to recognize anything beyond the fact Issei wasn’t with him. They share their blankets from time to time, so I used that to make him at least feel safe.’

Rikka nods. That would explain color of the blanket Ichiru was curled under.

‘It took a toll on them, being separated in a highly dangerous situation... on who it wouldn’t take, honestly.’ he sighs. ‘The good thing is, it’s possible he won’t need to repeat the Memory viewing again; even if it will be needed, it will be just one, confirmatory look at the hearing proper, where he will be able to choose memory least jarring to him. Shiki says the room is impressed with them.’

Eichi smiles faintly.

‘I’d get angry if they at least didn’t get the recognition after something like that.’ he says, before asking. ‘How’s Shu?’

‘Wishing to be with you all right now.’ Rikka answers, slightly censoring Shiki’s description. ‘Though, I guess you all are like that.’

‘I guess.’ Eichi looks at the sofa.

‘I also have a message from Tsubasa.’ Rikka slowly speaks up, and Eichi focuses back on him. ‘Though it might be better to call it a warning. Council of the High hunters caught on to Issei and Ichiru’s situation... and their potential.’

Eichi tenses, his focus shifting completely to the vampire in front of himself.

‘What they can do to us?’ he asks, and there’s no doubt in his voice. Even as a Backstage Support, Eichi had an experience regarding political manipulations happening at the top of the food chain.

Rikka hesitantly shakes his head.

‘Tsubasa wants to make sure nothing. But, for that, he will need your help.’ he looks at Eichi. ‘You know what is the most worrying part from perspective of Highs?’

‘All Highs? Or hunter Highs?’ Eichi specifies, and Rikka looks slightly impressed.

‘For now, let’s focus on hunter ones. Vampires are in better situation... or well, think they are.’

Eichi hums slowly, looking once again at the sofa.

‘The fact Isse and Icchi aren’t under their direct control.’ he says slowly. ‘As part of independent Unit, they respond directly in front of their general, and General Tsukino is on even standing with all Highs.’

‘Yes to all of that, but there’s a little more.’ Rikka points out. ‘Remember what I said about vampires-’

‘You mean, they fear Shu will use them against-?’ Eichi asks incredulously, but Rikka just nods. ‘That’s absurd! He’s a head of the Group!’

‘And a High, Elemental vampire.’ Rikka reminds. ‘Which means, a potential danger. And that potential danger orders around pure power potential-’

‘Isse and Icchi are kids!’ Eichi stresses. ‘I know they’re strong, and that we prepare for the Field, but it doesn’t change-’

‘I know, Eichi.’ Rikka interrupts him, raising a finger to lips, as Eichi’s voice rose in volume with his distress. ‘But, Tsubasa presented me hunter’s perspective, and I’m trying to paint it in front of you now. Issei and Ichiru haven’t got any connection or loyalty to the humankind; they’ve no parents, no family, only giant power potential. And that potential is taken by High vampire, with visually no supervision, because, again, there’s no parents or relatives- I know Shu’s in constant contact with the boys' orphanage through the Izumis, but to hunters, that’s surface activism.’

‘Isse and Icchi report their progress to the orphanage caretakers every month.’ Eichi says stiffly. ‘We don’t read the letters they write, whenever they ask us to send them. They literally got salmon delivered just recently, because they mostly write about each other, from what they've told me, and Isse mentioned Icchi looked homesick in his last letter.’

Rikka covers his face.

‘That’s actually just adorable-’ he gathers himself quickly, ‘But, you don’t have to convince me. I promise. I knew Shu before you were born, he’d rather die than to use you... well, use you more than Composer using his Singers, but.’

‘That’s equal parts using and being used.’ Eichi says and Rikka nods. Human twists his hands. ‘I think I get the picture, although I feel they erase Icchi’s and Isse’s conscience from the picture a bit too much.’

‘They erase it completely.’ Rikka agrees. ‘Which is a stupid move, but it’s hard to convince people thinking they know everything that aside of giant power potential, your children also have personality.’

Eichi scowls, before nodding, expression changing to worried.

‘What can we do to change their perception?’ he asks softly. ‘I don’t want to think about it, but with that perspective, there’s no way they will let Quell be. And I don’t want those two to stress it’s their fault again...’

Rikka nods.

‘According to Tsubasa, perception change is impossible.’ he says leaning against counter, and looking in the same direction as Eichi. ‘So, instead of wasting our energy on that, Tsubasa suggests to take countermeasures against any possible arguments and actions council of Highs might put forth.’

Rikka smirks softly.

‘Unfortunately for the council, the most meddlesome family is on our side.’ he looks at Eichi. ‘Tsubasa is still wrapping up preparations for certain... I’m not sure what kind of formalities, but, he will need all four of you to cooperate with him, once he brings them up. I just wanted to warn you, since it might be more than you’re used to. Shu’s been dealing with political manipulations for decades, but you...’

‘Rikka-san, sometimes I feel like you perceive not only our twins, but me as a child as well.’ Eichi says, and there’s smile on his face, for the first time since they started the talk. ‘I know I’m not even half your age, but don’t worry! I’m pretty tough! I can handle a lot.’

He looks into the living room again. Rikka can hear sound of soft snoring coming from that direction, but he’s more distracted with looking at how human’s face at his side changes.

Eichi’s expression morphs to something soft, incredibly soft and vulnerable even, before becoming hard with determination. Then, those two expressions mix into something painfully familiar.

‘Recently, I realized. For them and Shu, I can withstand anything, I think.’ Eichi says, and Rikka suddenly remembers.

His parents had similar expressions on, just before they send him away on that faithful day, when his first Solo got born.

‘I can see that.’ he says softly.

Twins weren’t abandoned, connectionless children like the Highs expected.

They had Eichi.

*

By the time Shu’s back, twins fever dimmed to nothing, their sleep peaceful, changing them into a pile of blankets and children on the sofa. Eichi is still awake, though, watching over them from above kitchen's counter. Vampire can catch the simple porridge his Unitmate was preparing, seconds before Eichi notices him and exits to greet him properly, all kindness and concern for him, even though he must be dying out of curiosity by now, and...

‘Welcome home, Shu.’

_That._

Shu lets himself be selfish and comes forward, burying his face in Eichi’s shoulder. The other, after initial surprise, just leans away to better accommodate him, arms wrapping around Shu’s back, and comforting sounds slipping past his mouth. Shu feels like the stress washes away from him just like that.

‘I’m home, Eichi.’

And he means that.

Raising his face to let Eichi see him, he catches the concern that isn’t erased away, even as he leans in.

Eichi deepens the kiss, surprisingly not letting Shu take the lead, but when he finally gives in, he realizes that’s exactly what he needed. Probably also what Eichi needed.

They’re out of breath, both of them, by the time they separate, but this is a good type of suffocation, completely different to what Issei experienced at the meeting...

_Issei._

He looks above Eichi’s shoulder, just briefly, but his partner still catches him doing that.

‘They’re sleeping, no nightmares.’ he assures the vampire, and smiles, once Shu looks back. ‘By tomorrow, they’ll be back on track to full recovery, as if nothing happened. Teenagers are amazing like that.’

Shu huffs a soft laugh, pulling Eichi just a bit closer.

‘I think you’re even more amazing, though.’ he confesses, irrationally pleased at the feeling of heart skipping a beat in a chest pressed against his own. Then, he sighs. ‘Rikka told you...?’

‘About the possible twin hunt? Yes.’ surprisingly - or is it really - there’s ice-cold determination in Eichi’s voice. ‘I’ve said we won’t go down without a fight. Because we won’t, righ-’

‘Of course.’ Shu reassures him, even as both of them unconsciously turn to look at their boys. ‘You’re my Singers. I’m not giving you up, to anybody.’

He went to war hoping he'll manage to create a world safer to live in for when they appear in his life. Shu really hoped nobody will doubt his ability to start another war just to remain by their side.

‘Good.’ Eichi smiles softly. ‘Because we’re not giving you up, either.’

Just then, twin pile shifts and mumbles incoherently, and they move to check on their precious Unitmates, leaving the promise without an audible answer.

Still, Shu's heart keeps Singing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really bad at describing panic attacks, but somehow I keep having to include them...somebody remind my brain we're bad at writing panic attacks, lol.  
> Thanks for reading!


	14. S.N.P.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The abbreviation of this title might also be read as "Solids Napping Party" or "Solids Nuking it out Party" there's no inbetween lol.  
> In general, it's Solids being Solids, and others not expecting them being Solids THIS much.  
> (and also, finale to certain Quell issues, but with vast help of twins' uncles from Solids)  
> Enjoy!

‘Just where is- oh.’ Shiki stops to marvel at the scene in front of him.

He can see Dai looking back at him resignedly, from above two colorful heads resting on his chest. While Rikka, he could somehow understand - he’s heard faint echo of man’s need for affection - Tsubasa was a surprise. Although he’s had no problems with opening up to them, letting his guard down that much was still rare.

Then, Shiki catches the faint glisten of the glyph between High hunter’s collarbones. Birdlike mark blinks back at him friendly.

‘I guess you have calming qualities working even on them.’ Shiki notes, seeing as his Changer seems to be sandwitched between two hunters, Dai’s hands the only things preventing other two men from slipping off of him.

Their youngest huffs.

‘They can try to hide they need a break at the stupidest times.’ he answers simply, and Shiki can’t do anything but agree. ‘Which, considering how vocal both of them can be, is kind of weird.’

‘Is it really?’ Shiki smiles wryly, sitting at the armrest of the sofa just above Dai’s head, keeping his tone quiet and relaxed. ‘They both love affection that is not forced by pity - at least that’s how I see it.’

Dai just grunts, but when Shiki carefully pets him, he leans into the touch.

‘I guess that’s our common trait though. Good job, Dai.’ Shiki murmurs, leaning down.

Dai has long gotten over his vampire aversion when it regarded Rikka, but he just recently proved it also was no longer regarding Shiki. Quite boldly, too, considering he just straight out kissed High vampire in the middle of their living room, in front of both Rikka and Tsubasa, before irritatedly asking them to stop babying him even in their relationship...

Shiki smiles, looking as the High hunter shifts and feeling that, his own Changed changes position to better accommodate the other man.

It shouldn’t look this cute with two - well, three, including Dai - fully grown up adults, but he had no other word to describe his napping boyfriends.

‘Did you need us for something?’ Dai asks quietly, even as he keeps leaning into Shiki’s touch. ‘You were going to ask „where is everyone” just now.’

‘Ah, this.’ Shiki slowly shakes his head, ‘This can wait.’

‘So, it’s not a new Song, huh.’ Dai muses, making Shiki snort softly.

‘Why does all of you think I’m in a rush only when it regards music? Don’t answer that.’ he adds, seeing Dai’s mouth open. Hunter smiles, clearly amused.

That, too, was new. Dai was comfortable with showing his feelings only to a tiny group of people, so getting to make him smile was a small pride of Shiki.

Even at the cost of his own ego.

They descend into comfortable silence, something Shiki knew from experience was possible only with Dai. Rikka would instantly go in search of something to do, and Tsubasa... well, if he was asleep like just now, he guessed it was possible. Although...

‘It’s unusual for them to be like that during the day.’ Shiki notes slowly. ‘You know something, Dai?’

‘Rikka is stressing over you and Tsubasa, Tsubasa is being Tsubasa.’ Dai instantly answers, before hesitating, and petting one, then the other man using him as a body pillow. ‘But, I guess it is the first time he prepares this convoluted legal shield alone. Back when he worked on my case, he still had support of the more experienced family members for that part, since attacking is easier than defending. He still has it, the support, it’s just, it seems that the shield this time isn’t something that can be made up as we go, or somebody will get hurt. ’

‘And in your case it could?’ asks Shiki, just slightly offended at his boyfriend again belittling himself.

Dai hums.

‘It had to be, since the new facts kept coming up as it progressed, I guess.’ he says slowly. ‘I can’t be too sure, though, it was... hard.’

‘Dai.’ Shiki just pats the younger man, and Dai closes his eyes, relaxing into the touch. ‘It’s okay, now.’

‘Yeah.’ Dai sighs, and Shiki notices his body relaxing. ‘This is okay.’

‘Even if half of our members are pretending to sleep.’ Shiki adds, and Dai’s eyes snap open, as he looks down at the men using him as their bed. Rikka sighs.

‘Nice things can’t last forever, can they...’ he mutters, opening his eyes, before looking at the hunter laying on himself. ‘You can stop pretending now, Tsubasa. We’ve been busted.’

‘No wait, I’m pretty sure you’ve been busted, and if I wasn’t we could’ve stayed- ack!’

Dai gets up with a slight growl, and Tsubasa tumbles to the carpeted floor. Rikka giggles, while clinging to the bigger man, but he ends slipping after Tsubasa anyway.

‘Darling, you meanie!’ Tsubasa whines. ‘If you wanted to join in, you could’ve said so! Dai-chan seemed to be getting soft on you!’

‘Don’t call me Dai-chan.’

‘Don’t call me meanie, when I just figured something out for you.’ at the same time says Shiki, and Rikka hums, even as he briefly hugs Tsubasa to calm him down.

‘Sounds interesting. You were working on something not related to a Song...’

‘Why all of you have the same reaction.’ Shiki sighs, prompting three amused looks in his direction. ‘Alright, I get it. I get it, I’ve brought it upon myself.’

‘So, what did you figure out?’ Tsubasa asks, climbing back onto sofa and pointedly leaning against Dai as he helped Rikka up. ‘Something to do with the riddle that is the Solos that cannot be considered completely related to music?’

Shiki stares.

‘How.’

‘What?’ Tsubasa stares, before something clicks and his mouth fall open in disbelief. ‘I was saying the first thing that came to my mind and I hit it right?!’

‘Don’t get surprised yourself!’ Shiki scowls, Tsubasa scowls back.

And Rikka slides back onto the floor, laughing, while Dai, trapped between both his boyfriends, bows his head, trying to hide his own amusement, his shoulders quaking.

‘You two are impossible.’ he manages to utter in between bouts of amusement.

‘You’re dating that impossibility.’ both Highs chorus that, before glaring at each other.

‘I’m dating it, too.’ Rikka reminds, sitting down, but preemptively not trying to get up from the floor. ‘So, I’m curious about that discovery of yours.’

Shiki humphs, but obediently extends his hand. Tsubasa looks down as vampire’s finger touches him exactly in between his collarbones, in a place a glyph looking like the bird showed up from time to time.

‘What? You’re touch starved?’ he asks, but then there’s a tiny mark, flashing in the place Shiki was touching. Vampire quickly takes his finger away.

‘As I thought. Even a concept is protective.’

‘A concept?’

‘It kept bothering me, why you, guys who get along with Etous pretty well, keep not having Soul Spirit Users.’ Shiki explains. ‘Even Shu’s Group has them, and their relationship with most hunters is cordial at best. So, I dug through our notes regarding your great-great-great- ugh it’s a nuisance to say. The pair that got your family a Wanderer’s eyes.’

Tsubasa blinks.

‘There are records of them? Outside of our library?’

‘Sparse, but they are.’ Shiki pauses. ‘Speaking of which, how in the world Okui’s managed to secure their own? Our library got damaged quite a lot when moving it around during Great Tragedy?’

‘Ah, this.’ Tsubasa waves his hand. ‘It actually burned down, since it got infected, at least in ninety percent; the remaining ten somehow got rescued, but. All the reports and so on from before the Great Tragedy are records that my grandparent, Yuri, ended up remembering and then wrote anew.’

‘Remembered and... wrote?’ Rikka blinks. ‘Tsubasa, your family’s library was... is giant?’

‘They had absolute memory. That was why they joined in efforts to subdue the Tragedy only after they officially became head of our clan, Yuri was remembering those, and Kumo Okui was buying them time to do so.’ Tsubasa shrugs. ‘I had great ancestors, too, not just Wanderers. Speaking of which, Darling, you’ve had something you wanted to share with me?’

‘Right.’ Shiki exhales, as if collecting his mind after revelations Tsubasa dumped on them. ‘Well, it’s more of a thesis of mine. Your family is described as „taking in the eternal flame” at one point or the other, and the huntress taking it is actually said to be „possessed by flames of love”.’

‘Why is everything on fire?’ mutters Dai, causing small giggle to escape from Rikka’s lips.

‘Because those are passages from „Fire chronicles”.’ dryly answers Shiki. ‘They record more prominent fire Elementals throughout last six centuries. I’ve looked into that eternal flame, and it seems that it had similar way of showing up in people like the Soul Spirits - at least from what Fujimura has told me. However, it isn’t given a personality, and while people possessing it had a surprising knack for understanding certain past events, none of them seemed to communicate with it. I guess, since Soul Spirits are elemental beings, it’s possible it was a Spirit at one point, and then just ended up getting so old or so powerful, that its individual conscience disappeared underneath it all, changing into a concept of power passed in a family, rather than actual Spirit.’

He looks at the glyph between Tsubasa’s collarbones.

‘My assumption is that your position in Kachoufuugetsu has to do with its’ last form before it became said concept. That would also explain why no other Soul Spirits choose you as their vessels, because that concept in a tiny part inhabits all of the Okuis.’

‘So, you say I’m not a Soul Spirit User because I technically am, only shared with all of my family?’ Tsubasa asks, head tilted to the side curiously. Shiki huffs.

‘That’s my hypothesis at best. You have to figure out whether it works or not yourself.’ he stands up. ‘Now, before we will have to go out, anybody up for a coffee?’

‘Go out?’ Rikka blinks at the clock on the wall, before he frowns. ‘Right, it’s today...’

‘How is Quell?’ Dai asks, looking down and extending his hand to lay it on Rikka’s shoulder. Vampire smiles up at him.

‘Jittery.’ Shiki answers, even as he pulls out their cups. ‘Shu won’t be with them, since he has Group matters to attend to, and besides, it is really probable he would attack culprits on the spot, he’s still furious at what they made Issei and Ichiru go through.’

‘Like everyone.’ choruses rest of his Unit, and Shiki hums.

‘But different to everyone else, Shu might actually carry it out before anybody will be able to stop him. All of us are in part water, even vampires, and he has absolute control over it.’

They contemplate it for a while, until kettle doesn’t whistle, and Shiki repeats the question about coffee.

All hands raise in the air.

*

Hearing hall looks different when you’re looking at it from the audience’s seats, Ren decides. It’s less looming, less threatening and more about justice, this time.

Or maybe that’s just his personal feelings speaking, watching a group of vampires and dhampires, actually shackled to their places because of their behavior, and group of hunters consisting of the representatives of all forces involved in the cracking of the case.

Tsukino members are there for various reasons, too. Ren is there to see the downfall of the people abducting his student, Nozomu is here to see it with him; Quell which they’ve seen before entering the building, is there to report, and Sakuraba-san is there to represent the accusing side from perspective of both Growth and Tsukipro member, as well as a representative of Etou family, who cooperated with the Groups and got part of the credit for the work.

Of course, since the High family also needed to have someone sitting on the council seat, deciding upon the sentence, they send in a retainer as a representative. Not that it was any less imposing, in Ren’s opinion Ryota possessed as overwhelming aura as any High.

They were cut out of the Field rotation for the time being, with Fluna and Seleas being finally included back into it and wanting to start with missions with shorter timeframe required of them, compared to the regular missions they were send on. Ren was kind of glad; he was sure Solids were back to form by now, Tsubasa-san healing more like a vampire than like a hunter, but... other Unit of SQ was still strictly told to take it easy. And because they had witnesses indispensable to the case, they were not allowed to completely take it easy, so. Both Support Units somehow ended up agreeing to look after them.

‘Ren.’ Nozomu calls to him, and Ren comes back to the present.

The hearing has already started, with the hunters of the accusing side once more letting the hall know the overview of the kidnapping cases, the progress of the investigation done with it, and then finally with the great action during which all twenty five children were successfully reclaimed, and three-forth of culprits behind the kidnappings captured redhanded, inside of the camp.

Here’s where Ryota takes over, listing all the crimes committed, and... well, there’s _a lot._

Then, defenders take their stance.

‘We’ve heard a lot of accusations; however, are there any proofs to those accusations? Isn’t that possible that the vampires were there due to inability of the hunters with finding the children?’ asks defendant, a vampire with snake-like face. Ren wonders how Ryota feels, facing a caricature of his own Soul Spirit.

‘That would be a possibility if they didn’t put up a fight during the actual retrieval.’ Ryota quirks an eyebrow. ‘And if they didn’t listen to the man who’s grinning annoyingly, while being shackled just behind you. He’s got charges set against him by two High vampires-’

Ryota stops, looks at the sheet in his hand, ignoring the smirk of Izushimo, only to add calmly.

‘Pardon, needed to check something. Charges of two High vampires and his own main family.’

‘That bitch!’ snaps Izushimo. ‘Setting my own family against me!’

‘Last I checked, I was not engaging in the activities allowing for such names being directed towards me.’ speaks calm, if terrifyingly cold voice from the vampire’s side. Tsubaki stares unblinkingly at the offender’s bench. ‘And you’ve set them against you yourself, by engaging in shelter-endangering activities like children’s abductions.’

‘Tendouin-san.’ Ryota speaks softly, and Tsubaki sighs.

‘Yes, my apologies.’ temperature in the room raises to a normal one. ‘It wouldn’t be good for witnesses to enter the too cold room, would it now?’

‘Indeed.’ Ryota agrees, before turning back to the snake-like vampire. ‘I’m pretty sure you’ve had more arguments in defense prepared, so advance apologies for ruining possibility of using them; all of the vampires behind your back were included in the witnesses’ reports we were gathering since our Units’ return from the Field.’

‘So, you’re trusting terrified children’s minds to rely you a correct information.’ lawyer spreads his hands. ‘You must admit it’s a bit-’

‘We’re also including reports of seven cadets of Field and Backstage forces that were taken after independent forces and Groups started working on the cases.’ Ryota interrupts him dryly. ‘As well as a record of Water Memory of the last twelweish hours from before our forces entered the camp.’

And that makes the council of both hunters and vampires shift.

‘Was there vampire Elemental taken in by mistake?’ mutters somebody, but the offenders' side huffs.

‘Bluffing.’ proclaims one of the shackled vampires to Izushimo’s right, but the High doesn’t speak, eyes glued to Ryota, fangs grinding against each other.

‘Your leader probably wouldn’t have fire scarring on his face if we were bluffing.’ Ryota returns airily. ‘But, let’s go with the order of abductions. Shinozaki-san, Muramachi-san, are you in the room?’

‘Why do I have to listen to serpent...’ mutters a small girl somewhere near Ren, and the boy sitting next to her chuckles.

‘Why do you still bother with that separation, we’re all Soul Spirit Users in there, right?’ he asks, and she huffs, but doesn’t argue. They march to the position Ren remembers Yuma’s mother taking.

‘Shinozaki Ari, Izumi group’s second Backstage Support squadron cadet.’ the boy introduces himself, girl following soon after.

‘Muramachi Shizuka, region fourteen of Etou domain, First air patrol Unit's cadet.’

‘Good work today.’ Ryota says tonelessly, before turning to the council. ‘Etou-sama, although it’s slightly out of order, would you mind taking over questioning so as to avoid internal conflicts within your domain?’

Shizuka’s back stiffens, and Ren starts to feel sorry for the girl. Ryota has an abnormal hearing range, for someone not related to air...

Etou just sighs.

‘Can we hear the report of your time at the camp? You’re free to start wherever.’

The two Spirit Users exchange glances, before Ari starts, deciding that once again, abduction order ought to work.

He describes everything and answers any question thrown at him, allowing his irritation with vampire’s side show only upon one question:

‘Why is your head not with us today? It’s a matter regarding one of his groupmates, and yet-’

‘Shu-sama would be here if we didn’t want offenders to serve the sentence alive, but as a bloated kelpies.’ he says sharply. ‘As it is now, he prefers not to risk his own fury getting in the way of shelter’s justice. Also, before I hear ridiculous assumptions that my own groupmmates bit me to stage my presentation, no. Izumis don’t bite like _that_.’

He pulls at his collar, and Ren winces. Even from the back, he could see the mess that the boy’s shoulder was. Even on a vampire, it would take at least few days to heal...

‘Wanderer’s work.’ mutters Nozomu next to him. ‘That’s what my brother calls this kind of mess.’

Considering what he’s heard of Wanderers, Ren must agree.

‘Aren’t you a bit too aggressive for a little victim, though?’ snake-like vampire asks condescendingly, ‘and with no protection from your Group either...almost as if there really was no-’

‘Ari. Don’t explode, there are sensors in the room.’ speaks up deep voice, and the boy jumps up, before turning back.

‘Captain!’

‘We all feel the same thing, Ari.’ vampire with grey hair and half of his face clad in the mark that was left from purifying the Despair with earth element, continues calmly. ‘Our head hasn’t emoted like that since Great Tragedy, it’s understandable your own emotions get amplified by it, but don’t let yourself get baited. You’re a predator as well, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, captain.’ the boy straightens, and nods to the man. There’s a hum on the side of the hunters.

‘So, Shu really is so pissed as it looks.’ Tsubasa muses, sitting not next to his father, but on the side of accussing hunters. ‘I wouldn’t say seventeen vampires in the room is no, or even a weak protection though, Hebi-san.’

Snake like vampire stutters, as at the gesture from Ari’s captain, exactly seventeen vampires stand up in various places around the audience part of the room.

‘And even if they weren’t there, most of remaining vampires are from Tsukino - you really think we’ll leave groupmate of one of our Unit leaders without protection?’ Tsubasa continues lightly. ‘Especially since he is a precious witness to the case.’

‘That’s-’ starts the vampire, but Etou interrupts him dryly.

‘We want to continue the case, if tug-of-war for the power is now done.’

‘Ah, right, my bad, my bad~’ Tsubasa smiles placatingly, while the Izumi vampires once again mingle with the audience. Etou sighs.

‘Muramachi-san, if you please, now.’

‘Yes, sir.’ the swallow Spirit User then promptly moves on to give simple, crude and to the point report of what she has seen and how was treated in the camp, recalling four more names Ari didn’t mention. Etou nods, and then remaining three decoys take the stage, their reports only slightly varying with dates, number of forced feedings and times at which they were discovered. All of them repeat in different words the mechanics of feeding the children, describe the warehouse and the sense of emptiness, surrounding them, but even worse, locking them away from their Spirits. Etou nods along, until last of them didn’t finish answering the questions, before leaning back with a sigh.

‘I’m afraid there’s no getting away from it. So far, only known method to mute connection with the Soul Spirit like that is the absolute Void.’ Etou looks pointedly at the only shackled High in the room. ‘No getting out of it, Izushimo.’

‘You and your little Spirit pets...’ growls the High, quickly hushed by the other vampires. He behaved as if, with revelation of his own family turning on him, he’s lost his mind.

‘Well... maybe it looks convincing to the Soul Spirit User, but we’re not them.’ Hebi spreads his arms. ‘And, considering our common... history, you can’t expect vampires to believe just your word.’

Etou rolls his eyes.

‘Yes, because it was us who left whole clan of Composers to get slaughtered because they would not help us. All of that after giving them a word not to involve them any further.’ he says, and Hebi’s hands drop. It was the tone that promised hell, if somebody tried to once again derail the conversation with weak arguments. ‘But since you so insist, Sakuraba-kun.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Ryota stands up. ‘The common practice on the meetings where the controversial decisions will have to be made is usage of Water Memory. It’s commonly agreed to be the technique that’s impossible to manipulate. Correct?’

He gets a round of confirmations. Then he looks to the back of the room.

Ren also looks behind them and catches a bit of white, before Ryota speaks up again. Although, this much was known to everyone in Tsukino...

‘Last decoys, send from under Tsukino’s flag, were actively using it to record their sensations, conversations, and emotions.’ Ryota holds up a familiar blue crystal. ‘After their reclamation, we’ve unwound all of the memories, and recorded list of names appearing in them, as well as confirmed faces of the attackers already in custody.’

He stops, as Hebi laughs, sound velvety and condescending and poisonous.

‘You want us to believe a child mastered Water Memory? Human child?’ he asks, and few vampires shift in place; the man had a point. ‘You must forgive my disbelief-’

‘But I won’t.’ dryly interrupts him Ryota. ‘It wasn’t done without sacrifices, and even now, even though water is just my secondary element, I can feel the weight of memories imbued in it. Considering it was finished at last moment possible, it’s no wonder its shell is so fragile; still, if a sensor, or somebody with lesser control and higher water affinity than myself held it, it would probably leash out and cause madness-’

‘I see now.’ dryly says Hebi. ‘Crystal so unstable we cannot even inspect it, so we should take your word for it as to what it includes? You literally can make a fake from glass, looking that way, and-’

‘I feel this hearing would last half the time it lasts already, if you didn’t try to cut into your counterpart’s speech at every goddamn turn, Hebi.’ speaks up irritated voice, and all heads turn towards Takamura’s head, surprisingly present in person. ‘Sakuraba has planned to say that because of age of creator and strain the memory reading causes to him, their official guardians and our medics disagreed on second full unwinding, but allowed the single memory confirmation.’

‘And you know that, because-’

‘I’m playing their surrogate guardian today, as Shu is really, _really_ furious about someone touching his Singers, as you’ve seen from the condition of his Group.’ Shiki returns, and makes to add for something more, before the room temperature drops few degrees. Izushimo stands up, chains straining to hold him back in place, but he’s not the only one. Few other vampire culprits spit and curse, loudly, causing their guards to stiffen, preparing for pacification. Shiki doesn’t even look in their direction, when he says shortly.

‘Rikka.’

Ren catches short flash of pink with the corner of his eye, before fire lilies explode all around the bench, and vampires quieten as one.

‘I admit our children might have caused you trouble, but they wouldn’t if you didn’t start with kidnapping.’ Shiki continues dryly. ‘Now, before any more stupid questions, or any more stupid ideas like trying to break free when Rikka holds back his flame from scorching you to the ground with sheer willpower, shows up in your brains...’

‘Ah, right. We got it, Shiki.’ Tsubasa speaks up, nodding at Ryota, before turning to the council. ‘Permission to confirm the identity of creator and authenticity of Memory Crystal?’

Etou smiles, even as Mutsuki senior sighs heavily.

‘Amazing, somebody remembered the right procedure, and it’s an Okui, out of everyone in the room.’

‘What can I say, we do know what to say to rile people up.’ Tsubasa grins, prompting few soft snorts on the whole line of judges.

‘That’s quite an understatement.’ Shiki mutters, but is overshadowed by loud.

‘Permission granted. Introduce us to those infamous Singers of Izumi Shu.’

‘They can introduce themselves just fine, sir.’ Tsubasa reminds, even as Ryota walks to the place all witnesses took, to meet with all three members of Quell, currently taking the position. All of them wore their uniforms.

Ryota hesitates.

‘Ho- Eichi-san, will you be alright-’ he starts, and Eichi smiles reassuringly.

‘It’s fine, it’s fine. I have neutral affinity, at the moment. Took some effort, but that way, it will be easier to break Isse’s connection with the Crystal, if something goes askew.’

Ryota nods.

‘And who you may be?’ Hebi looks curiously at Eichi. ‘Because you definitely don’t look like a child anymore.’

‘And thank god for that!’ Eichi smiles, but his eyes are sharp. ‘Horimiya Eichi, cadet of the Shield Unit of Tsukino, Quell. Also, Izumi Shu’s second in command, in matters regarding the Unit at least.’

He puts hands on the shoulders of the twins standing in front of him.

‘More importantly, the support adult of these two today.’

That prompts a soft scowl from Ichiru.

‘You’re phrasing it weirdly again...’

Eichi shrugs.

‘Kuga Issei, cadet under the same Unit.’ Issei looks quickly at Ryota. ‘Also, owner of most of the memories inside that crystal.’

The room shifts.

‘Most?’ murmurs someone, but twins don’t hear it, as Ichiru also continues his introduction.

‘Kuga Ichiru. Issei’s younger brother. Owner of the part of Memories Issei isn’t.’

‘That’s a baffling introduction...’ starts Hebi, and is interrupted, this time by the head of the Kisaragi group.

‘No, it isn’t. Dear, it’s as if you’ve never heard of twins connection.’ she huffs, prompting few unsettled stares, as people realize that they, indeed, never heard of such a thing. ‘Educate yourselves and stop unnecessarily stressing completely normal children out.’

Ryota coughs, though Ren has a sinking suspicion it was to muffle his laughter, and that the Serpent Spirit User took quite a lot of pleasure from the fact of Hebi being grilled by his own race.

‘I think we derail from the purpose of this hearing a bit.’ Serpent Spirit User finally says softly, voice not betraying anything that transpired just seconds ago. ‘All of the information quoted in our reports come from the witnesses that we’ve listened to just moments ago and the memories, part of which we’re about to see. I’d like to request everyone’s cooperation, as reading from Memory Crystal takes quite a lot of effort, even when it’s just a small group of people that are shown them.’

Ryota nods to the twins, passing the crystal to Eichi, and taking half a step backwards.

‘If you need something, tell us.’ he says softly. ‘We’re your partner Unit and your fellow project Unit is there too, after all. You’re no longer alone.’

Issei, until now expression tense, relaxes minimally, even as his hand reaches out and Ichiru grabs it without looking.

‘We just got everything that is needed.’ older twin says, squeezing his brother’s palm. He then looks at Eichi. ‘If I mess up, stop me?’

‘You’ve got it.’ adult smiles at him, reluctantly raising the crystal in an open palm. ‘Ready to try?’

Issei nods, even as his eyes are already focused on the crystal. It flashes and Issei’s eyes flash in response, before twin reaches out his free hand and covers the crystal with it.

 _‘Issei?’ Ichiru asks quietly, and older twin feels touch between his collarbones_ and Ren flinches, as Issei lets the memory become also audience’s memory, with all sensations it brought _. ‘If you can’t, I will look.’_

 _‘No. I can do it.’ comes back just as soft of Issei’s whisper_ , and Ren becomes aware of the same thing twins were, that it doesn’t matter which one would watch, the memory would keep being as vivid.

And then he sees Yuma, and his heart stops.

_Vampire opened cage, and grasped Yuma's shoulder, pulling him out._

_Issei can feel Ichiru’s inhale against his chest. Both of them were aware of how painful it had to be for that boy, and how brutal it was, that the vampire did it, while children watched from just a few steps away, seemingly frozen in place._

_The boy doesn’t cry, doesn’t moan in pain_. _In fact, he actually tries to put up a fight, albeit it’s barely visible because of the difference in powers between a rested vampire and constantly weakened child..._

_‘What it will be today?’ vampire asks, bat on the ground, but individual not any less dangerous, as he grins at the boy half his size, fangs shining eerily in the night light. ‘Losing food or blood?’_

_Somehow, the boy is not frozen by fear, and he looks towards their cage._

_‘You’ll include new ones into it. Blood, not that you’d have even a chance to get it, if you had an ounce of honor.’_

_Vampire laughs, as if Yuma has said something really amusing, and the boy’s face scrunches in anger. Issei, though, can see beneath that; Ichiru did this all of their childhood, too._

And Ren can see through the facade, too, because he knows his student too well to be fooled.

_Angry expression was supposed to mask fear._

_‘What can a human know about honor?’_

_‘And who cares if I’m human.’ Yuma hisses. ‘You’re just scums above scums, among humans_ and _vampires.’_

_‘Oooh, so scary.’ vampire mocks, then pushes Yuma off balance, and into another female vampire, standing next to the bound children. They yelp, their guard catches bigger boy in almost caring hug, hand in his hair and pulling his head to the side. ‘Irina, your turn. Make sure not to drain him completely, we still need him. Brats, get a move on!’_

_Yuma doesn’t scream, but children still almost drop the bag of bread when female bites into the boy behind them, and teenager releases some kind of whimper._

_Issei feels his blood changing into ice, but he can’t look away from the scene in front of him._

Ren wishes he did.

_‘Irina.’ there’s imperious voice from just next to their cage, and both Issei and Ichiru gasp in surprise. ‘Keep him conscious. I don’t want to have to get into city for the new kid as strong as this one.’_

_‘But, Izushimo-san. We were told to break them all before the transfer, right? And this one’s still-’_

_‘Enough.’ Izushimo cuts her off, and Issei once again feels ice, this time tingling his skin, as the man releases just a bit of his power._

_‘If you cannot look through just this kid’s facade, you’re really useless.’ Izushimo continues. ‘Get him back into cage. Feed him last. This is enough.’_

_In the next second, vampire’s stare was pinning Issei to the ground with amount of distaste and some kind of... hatred?_

_He slowly squats next to their cage and Issei’s muscles tense on instinct, as he tries to wrap himself more fully around Ichiru, in some surreal fear that, if the man’s eyes fall over his twin, they will get torn apart, Ichiru will get hurt, and-_

_Vampire smirks, visibly pleased with his scared reaction._

_‘That’s what happens when you go against us.’ he says, and his voice probably is supposed to be pleasant, but all Issei can hear is threat,_ and Ren feels red, overtaking his vision _. ‘You will keep being good boys, we keep away from you. One of you, at least. You know what happens if you don’t.’_

 _He points behind himself, where Yuma is thrown back into his cage, shaking. Issei doesn’t know if it’s from pain, fear, or anger, he only knows he needs to protect Ichiru,_ and somewhere under that need, the Crystal recorded the reverse emotion, the strong need to protect Issei...

Twin ends his recollection there, and Ren realizes that Nozomu has his arms wrapped around him, and that they’re now standing up, wind picking around them.

‘Ren! Ren, I know, I know, but you need to calm down for now!’

In any other circumstance Ren would laugh at how much they roles reversed right now; but, he wasn’t in the mood to laugh, he was seeing red, and if the wind picks up and slices through the woman sitting just few seats away from Izushimo, what’s the loss? He wants to see her _bleed_ , see her shake and whimper the way Yuma, his proud young student had, and then-

‘Okay, I got the picture, but seriously, Ren, that’s enough. Thank god you're connected with a Pact to me... If Sora ever includes your bloodlust in a Song, we’re so losing the status of Support, so, drop it, for now at least.’

Hand lands on his head, a wide brown mark shining, and Ren feels wave of familiar yet foreign feelings, settling over his own.

‘Sou-nii... you’ve seen...’

‘Yeah, and I’m sure you can come up with at least ten countermeasures to teach Yuma later.’ his Guardian says calmly. ‘You just need to slightly calm down.’

Ren takes a breath in, and lets it out. Wind settles down, and he slackens in Nozomu’s grip, which apparently just stopped him from committing murder with especial cruelty.

His boyfriend looks at him, before carefully letting go, as if afraid Ren will leash out again, and he suddenly becomes aware of all of the room looking at him.

His anger is quickly replaced by something that probably can no longer be called embarrassment, as he bows and sits down rapidly, praying to disappear of the face of earth.

The murder instinct is reignited when he looks at the defendants’ bench, and shame gets burnt by it.

He will not show weakness in a place Yuma’s abuser could see it.

‘Yeah, sorry about that.’ Soushi says in his regular voice, as he makes his way back to the place next to Tsubasa. ‘Should have warned you about presence of a sensor with emotional relation to one of the victims.’

‘Ah, no, normally, I would catch-’ Issei stands surprisingly close to Eichi - in fact, you probably could say he was leaning on his older teammate, with Ichiru’s hand still tightly clutched in his. Soushi shakes his head, reaching out and ruffling twins’ hair in passing.

‘Quell’s partner Support Unit is Growth. I’d be slightly worried if you already was capable of sensing presence of guys from the Unit that isn’t even your partner.’ he says, before looking at Eichi. ‘I can take that Crystal back.’

‘Please.’ Eichi returns it without questioning and Soushi quickly passes the item to Ryota, who nods.

‘Can I consider that memory convincing enough?’ he asks, and if the venom in his voice was real, the floor around Hebi would be melting away. ‘Or do you consider memory of a face, an action, and the surroundings, however dark, to be not a decisive argument?’

Hebi opens his arms in a surrendering gesture.

Among vampires, he’s been known as the best lawyer, and employing him was probably the last present that Izushimo family gave to their son before giving him up for the sake of proper relationship with the Tendouins, the main family.

However, every good lawyer knew when they fought a losing battle.

*

Issei and Ichiru don’t stay for the remaining part of the hearing.

Instead, Eichi drags them to the Altair’s main base, and, after the checkup, the doctors unanimously agree all that was left for their recovery to succeed was just resting. And Eichi was very adamant about making them obey that advice.

They still know what was the finale of the whole mission, Izumi group’s representatives staying in the hall, and reporting to Shu, who informs them, as soon as he returns, about unanimous death or exile penalties to all offenders.

‘There were just too many things they were involved in.’ he sums it up, before smiling at them. ‘The silver lining is, you will never see them again.’

Issei doesn’t feel happy, like he expected he would, but instead feels as if a great weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

‘When will we be able to get back to training?’ he asks instead, and Shu smile widens minimally.

‘Weren’t Ichiru supposed to be impatient one?’ he asks, and Issei shakes his head.

‘We both are.’

‘Recover completely first.’ Shu advises. ‘And once you do, we will work out a proper schedule. For now, we have situation on the Field under control, so we can take our time with it.’

‘But, it won’t be peaceful for forever.’ consciously says Issei. ‘And we don’t know when it will change.’

‘No, we don’t.’ Shu agrees. ‘But, different to last mission, you won’t be facing the situation alone, this time.’

‘We know.’ both twins chorus, snuggling more into the blankets two adults on their either side draped around them.

*

Few days later, Altair officially labels them as recovered.

And trouble didn’t wait even a day to appear.

‘We’re being called-’

‘-for a meeting with General?’ Issei finishes the question, even as they follow Eichi and Shu through the maze of the corridors. ‘And not to his office, either?’

‘Yeah.’ surprisingly, Eichi cannot muster his usual cheer to answer them, and Issei instantly feel worry rising in his stomach.

‘Do you know what it is about?’ Ichiru asks, jogging up to get inbetween two adults. Admittedly, even in their anxious state, Shu and Eichi naturally drift apart to fit both Issei and Ichiru between themselves. Shu shakes his head.

‘I can’t be sure until we confirm it on the exact meeting, but I have my suspicions.’ he answers. ‘I’ve been warned about it, after all.’

‘”It” being?’ Ichiru presses, but Shu shakes his head.

‘It might be not that, and you would worry for nothing. Until it’s confirmed-’

‘You and Eichi both suspect the same thing though.’ Issei interrupts other Elemental. ‘And we will worry if you worry. We’re in the same Unit, right?’

Shu tears his eyes from the road ahead to look at them. Some of the nervous energy dissipates, then, vampire sighs.

‘Yes, we are. But look,’ he points at the door at the end of the corridor, ‘we’re already here, so. No need to rely on just suspicions.'

Twins look on as the adults stop in front of the door, before exchanging worried glances. Against themselves, they shift closer together, but then adults move forward.

‘General? It’s Izumi, I’ve brought my Unit’

There’s quick answer from inside, and Shu opens the door, before letting all of them pass first.

The room isn’t nearly as big as the conference room where the meetings of all Field forces took place. It’s round, has no windows, and - Issei tries to inhale subtly - was empowered with multitude of restraining glyphs, nature of which he couldn’t properly figure out, but.

He knew they were strong.

Most of the room is taken up by the round table with chairs all around it. At the furthest one from the door, General Tsukino sat, letters in front of himself, looking as the four of them enter.

What’s more surprising is presence of Tsubasa on his right, a fair stack of papers in front of him as well.

‘Yo.’ he greets, but there’s certain tinge of tension even in his voice. ‘You guys can’t catch a break, huh.’

Twins blink. Shu comes to stand next to them.

‘Is this about-’ he asks without proper greetings and it says a lot. Tsubasa tilts his head.

‘Did you tell your kiddos about it?’ he asks instead. ‘Because if not, they’ll be stressed and confused at the moment.’

‘You’re beating around the bush as well, so it’s not only Shu’s fault!’ Ichiru defends, but there’s audible confusion in his voice. ‘And besides, what is this all about?’

‘Now, I’ll explain in a second, for now, sit down.’ General speaks up, massaging his temples. ‘We are a bit short of time, but we’ll try to explain the best we can.’

Issei looks at Shu, and the vampire reluctantly nods. All of Quell huddle on Tsukino’s left.

‘First, here’s the message human council of Highs has sent us just this morning.’ General passes the message to Shu. ‘It regards your Unit.’

‘Is this...’ Shu scans the letter, pressing his lips tighter with each read line. ‘I see. So, they choose this route.’

‘Yeah.’ Tsukino turns to the rest of Quell. ‘Council of High hunters decided to request suspension of Quell for the time it takes to settle legal situation of custody of underage members of the formation - namely, you two.’

‘They can do that?!” with disbelief asks Eichi. ‘Isn’t Tsukino an independent-’

‘It is.’ Tsukino nods. ‘However, in case of suspicion of abuse of power, either of the council is allowed to request such a solution for the sake of investigation, discussion, and so on. Of course, in case we have a reason, we can refuse the request, but in current situation, we technically don’t. You are cadets, and not in the roster for the Field missions, which means we’re not creating a blank by suspending your activities. The reason of the request in this case is suspicion of using underage people by the High vampire without proper supervision and influence of human side.’

‘That’s... custody over the twins is split on me and human group member of Izumis, then there’s orphanage workers who still can revoke our rights at any moment, if they think Isse and Icchi are abused! How is that „not enough” influence of human side?’ Eichi argues, and there’s still disbelief in his voice. ‘Shu’s only connection with twins is through leader position and Composer and Singers relation!’

‘You’re approaching it in a normal meaning of the words, Eichi. Although some of them really worry about that, and would definitely back away once hearing this explanation, there are council members who has this other meaning of the phrase in mind.’ Tsubasa finally speaks up, shuffling the papers in front of himself. ‘So let me translate old men of our council: Shu is the only High directly involved with the twins, who have presented an uncommon skill and talent that might prove dangerous, if led in the wrong direction.’

Issei feels like he and Ichiru exhale at the same time.

‘So, that’s what it is about. Again.’ Ichiru says with surprising calmness, and Issei nods his head minimally. Ichiru snorts a short, mirthless laugh. ‘I almost forgot that’s how it works!’

‘Icchi?’ Eichi asks softly, but Ichiru seems not to hear him, as he jumps to his feet.

‘Orphans are just a nuisance after all, until they prove they can be used for something!’ he continues with some kind of venomous glee. ‘I won’t count the times ma’am at the orphanage asked for support when Issei or other kid got sick but got refused, as we _weren’t the priority_. But now, that we prove useful, that we did the job they couldn’t manage, they’re suddenly _concerned?_ For our safety and development! For our connections! We’ve been kicked, called names, chased, threatened, _almost killed_ because we didn’t know how to manage what we are, but only after we _finally_ grasped a speck of control of our lives, after we might become useful tools, they take notice and show _concern_ -!’

‘Icchi!’ Eichi jumps out of his seat at the same time as twin’s breath hitches in his throat. Older human wraps him in a hug. ‘Icchi, it’s okay, shh, you’re right, you’re right, but it will be okay...’

Issei feels hand on his head, and looks away from his brother. Shu takes one look into his eyes, reflecting the same kind of desperate, powerless rage Ichiru formed into words, and pulls older twin into embrace as well. Issei gratefully hides in comfort of bigger Elemental once more taking lead.

‘Will we lose it again? The place we want to belong to?’ he whispers into Shu’s chest, feeling as both his and Ichiru’s emotions melt together into a pot of frustration and fear. He knows how the disputes of power usually go, and if council wants the control over them, there’s no way they will let them stay with Shu and Eichi-

‘No, you won’t.’ his leader calmly, but loudly answers him, and Issei looks up in disbelief. ‘I won’t let it happen. I’m not separating from you, now that I’ve finally found you. I think I’ve said that before?’

‘Seconding that.’ Eichi smiles, still hugging younger twin, petting Ichiru’s hair. ‘I don’t have as much influence as Shu has, but I also rather not have Quell fall through. I guess I’m partially to blame for the situation, too, since if there was a High in my place-’

‘Eichi, no.’ at the same time say twins and Shu. Human grins at them.

‘Aw, thanks guys.’ he sombers. ‘But, facts are the facts. Still, I’m also human, and if they want to go the unbalanced race relation route, I have few things to say about that.’

‘And I hoped you’d do.’ Tsubasa says, incredibly pleased with himself, ‘my nose was right after all~ ah, Koi’s nose, too.’

Tsukino sighs.

‘Let’s skip the dubious content and move to the concretes, shall we?’ he asks, ‘Tsubasa is here as the spy- pardon me, _observer,_ from the arm of the council, responsible for supervising any interracial relations that happen in SQ. However, he seems to also have something against the idea of separation of our Units-’

‘Mostly the fact that Darling seems to be sleeping better ever since you got formed - though that’s a metaphor.’ Tsubasa adds.

‘And as such, has been working on something that might help us solve this situation much quicker than tug-of-war with the council over twins' custody.’ Tsukino finishes, although there’s a slight smile at the concept of Solids’ leader choosing to sleep more than two hours a day.

All of the room turn to Tsubasa, who once again rummages through the papers in front of himself.

‘Yeah, well, thanks to the way our council decided to go about it, I actually had few ways to counter it.’ he says, picking a paper, reading its header, and putting it away. ‘Of course, being the idiot I am, I decided to go for the one with most paperwork. I guess the ultimate layer of security can be counted by the amount of trees you need to kill to write it all down...’

‘You’re derailing, idiot.’ Ichiru grumbles, prompting a weak protest from Issei, but Tsubasa just shakes his hand at him.

‘I’m pretty sure I’m at the place without any roads at the moment, so derailing happened quite a while ago. Not that anybody in Solids isn’t a lil bit unhinged in one way or the other. Now, wanna hear an explanation or should I investigate you about that "almost killed" you’ve mentioned?’

‘Explanation, please.’ Issei says before Ichiru can answer anything. ‘Our story is nothing interesting.’

‘If you say so... I’ll eventually have to hear it, but let’s leave it for another time. Gotcha!’ Tsubasa victoriously pulls out three sheets of paper. ‘So, lemme go from the start, but go quick since the representatives of the council announced themselves for a visit in less than an hour.’

He lays three documents down, and starts segregating all the papers next to them, while simultaneously explaining:

‘Different to the Soul Spirit Users within the Group, you guys cannot be supervised by the Pact of Cooperation between a Group and a family or a clan, as you are technically not part of either. That was the main issue, since if the clan took care of you as individuals, it would equal adoption into that clan, and that would drag all other problematic stuff into the equation. So, I’ve looked up alternative, and got paperwork for it ready. It’s fittingly named Pact of Belonging.’

‘Pact of-’

‘-Belonging?’

‘Ah, I’ve heard about that thing!’ Eichi suddenly exclaims. ‘Isn’t it that extremely convoluted legal procedure about custody being actively with an individual while the other has passive control over it, overseen by the Highs? It was invented to allow vampires under thirty enter the Field, but ever since evolved into something that’s used on both races, if underage ones are involved.’

‘Oh, at least somebody will know my pain!’ Tsubasa looks happy. ‘Yeah, it’s that, it works more or less like you've said, too. In all honesty, it would be easier to just get you and Shu to adopt the twins, but the procedure for mixed couples adopting is just as messed up, not to mention we apparently don’t have a law allowing unmarried guys to adopt. I’m not sure if we have one allowing married guys adopt, either, now that I think about it...’

‘Putting musings about our marital status aside,’ Shu says, as Eichi seems to change into tomato next to him, ‘isn’t Pact of Belonging quite a time-consuming matter? There are three sides of just people who share the custody laws, not to mention it’s one of the rarer procedures where the children involved have to confirm their wish to be part of that Pact by signing.’

‘Well, yeah, technically.’ Tsubasa groans. ‘I’ve engaged half of the lawyer branch of Okui, and some of the guys in your Group, and even then gathering all of the papers took well over two months. But, the silver lining is, it’s now practically ready.’

He shows them the three documents, that turned out to be copies of the same agreement, already signed in four places, with four more left blank. Quell leans in to read it as Tsubasa continues the explanation.

‘The orphanage workers were already aboard of the idea of securing your places in the Unit, something in your letters convinced them you now have a very warm home to go back to.’ he grins at the twins. ‘I’ve got the guy in the Izumi group who until then had a partial custody - head of Izumi humans? - sign as part of passive supervisors, too, since he’s obliged to inform orphanage about you.'

He points with his finger to the next two names.

‘Then there’s Overseers. I can’t take it on alone, since, while I am the second head of my clan, or heir, however you please, I’m also related to Tsukino, that is the place that requests the Pact to be made for the sake of your participation on the Field. So auntie, our clan’s lawyer and kind of informal head of Backstage branch of Okui, is the one officially supervising the Pact.’ he grins. ‘Since she literally wiped dust with Minazukis’ lawyers six years ago, I don’t think anybody will want to undermine a Pact she approved of. Then, there’s me, because she’s Backstage, and just in case, Overseer needs to be able to show dominance or whatever.’

He finally points at the four blank points.

‘Normally, I’d advise you to read the mountain of papers and all the addendum that comes with the Pact to properly weigh the pros and cons, but we have,’ he looks up, at the clock hanging above the door, ‘twenty minutes until the council comes to possibly start, erm, „showing concern”-’

The quotation marks are practically audible.

‘-by trying to take Issei and Ichiru, and moving them under their custody until their doubts won’t get cleared up by Tsukino, and you know what that would mean.’

‘Eternal back and forth with the documents, during which they keep Quell apart.’ sighs Shu. Twins flinch, and vampire instantly starts rubbing back of Issei, who is closer to him. ‘I’m sorry. I trust you, Tsubasa, so I’m fine not reading it, but... can I ask why did you go to such lengths? I don’t doubt your motivation or anything-’

‘Only you do.’ Tsubasa grins, before his eyes flash. ‘It’s fine. Anyway, the reason number one is quite clear; I might not be a Composer, but I also like when the Songs that belong together are together, you know? Second, I don’t want the kiddos over there become the prize over which the old men will keep arguing. You should have seen them arguing about Dai-chan, until we adopted him.’

‘Wait a moment, adopted?!’

‘Yeah, though that was just a pro forma adoption.’ Tsubasa waves his hand. ‘He needed to be an Okui to work with me on the Field when underage. As soon as he turned eighteen, he returned to his own surname, and all that stuff got naturally resolved. But, it wouldn’t work for you guys, since you’re not part of Solids, you’re in Quell. And that’s the third reason, I really want Field Defense to join us eventually. With you guys, I feel like we really have the chance to change this world for better, if not by decimating the Marionettes, then at least by giving it more music.’

He looks down, at the papers.

‘That’s why, the Pact is constructed in a way that makes you be... well, as good as adopted by Shu and Eichi, and for as long as you continue to work with Quell.’

Here, Tsukino interrupts him.

‘At least until you’re eighteen, when all those custody matters are no longer really considered, as you gain partial independence. However, while I would really like you to agree, you need to understand that, if you sign it off, until four years from now-’

He’s interrupted by the twins simultaneously snatching the pens laying loosely on the table.

‘Why there are three of them?’ Ichiru asks, even as he and Issei start signing off under baffled and moved stares of the adults.

‘One for my Backstage branch, that will handle all the lawyer stuff and complaints directed at us after it comes to life. Second, for the council, as a reminder to keep their hands off of you. Third, for Tsukino- though, I think it won’t be a problem to leave it with Quell.’ Tsubasa answers, his smile widening as he counts out. Then, he looks at Shu and Eichi. ‘Are you two-’

‘Of course.’ they chorus that, exchange smiles, before coming to the table and grabbing their own pens.

Twins end their signatures earlier, and watch with tense expressions as adults finish their own, and then Tsubasa with flourish adds each page to a separate stack in front of himself. It’s only after Shu and Eichi once again wrap them in secure embraces, that they come back to life.

‘This will be fine, right?’ Issei asks with kind of forcefulness only fourteen year olds are capable of, clinging to the arms holding him with one hand, the other gripping at Ichiru's. ‘They won’t take it all away from us now?’

‘Nope! You might be unable to leave Quell for a few years now, though.’ Tsubasa grins at him cheerfully, and twins literally sag down and against their older teammates. It’s quite obvious Shu and Eichi have nothing against cradling the boys against themselves. ‘But, I guess you didn’t plan on it either way?’

‘Of course we didn’t, idiot Tsubasa.’ but, Ichiru’s words lack their usual fire, and Eichi and Shu exchange looks. While technically, twins were back and recovered, their stamina had yet to build back, and as they previously had shown, the emotional strain of losing their place to belong did weight on them heavily, even if it was just a momentary scare.

‘Good, good, I won’t be murdered by auntie, then.’ Tsubasa says, then looks at the door, in the direction of the small commotion audible outside the door. ‘But, our guests might want to murder me then.’

‘Tsubasa,’ Tsukino massages his temples. ‘If you can, tell Kurotsuki to let the representatives in, I’ve told him to stall them while we figure out things in there, but it seems he took it too literally.’

Tsubasa snorts with laughter, standing up. Tsukino sends a weak smile Quell’s way.

‘We need to inform them their plan fell through due to a not really unforeseen circumstances.’

Here, he looks at the twins, gathering themselves to sit next to, rather than on their Unitmates.

‘Some people really need to stop underestimating children.’

Twins just nod stiffly, and it’s telling something that they’re not protesting at being called children like they usually do.

General Tsukino really hopes it’s just because they feel they shouldn’t retort to the leader of the Organization they work for. He’s not able to confirm that, as Tsubasa leads in a group of younger or older High hunters, some instantly looking at the twins and measuring them up, like a meat for sale. Tsukino feels aggressive protectiveness, both from the direction of Quell’s adults and from within himself, and with vicious satisfaction thinks about the words he will be able to shove into faces of those men and women seeing children as the tools for power.

Tsukino Mikoto might not have Singers connected to him, but he definitely isn’t letting anybody touch Singers in his Units.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confession time, this thing is so long because I couldn't bring myself to shorten the hearing down, it was supposed to take less than 2k words, ended up being most of the chapter... I hope it isn't dragging too much, this chapter in general is rather slow...  
> Confession number two, I have no idea how the custody law works, so the latter part of the chapter, I was making it up as I went. I'm terribly sorry for the lawyers spending years learning this stuff, only for me to bring it down to this xD  
> Thanks for reading! We're moving to Growth-related issues for the next installment!


	15. Flow Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This title was chosen because this chapter refused to flow away from me. Not in a good sense, that is. But, eventually, I've managed to give it shape! And then even make that shape look good! Somewhat.  
> Let's go back to our growing princes? Chapter fifteen here we gooo!

‘And that’s the overview of the things happening in the domain for today. Good job, Kouki.’ his father finishes with a nod, after he closes his mouth. ‘You’re getting even better at supporting your opinion.’

Kouki smiles briefly.

‘Does that mean I can propose you a thing to consider in regards to control of the domain?’ he asks, and his father's eyes flash in surprise, before he smiles with... frankly, Kouki is pretty sure it’s happiness.

‘Go ahead.’ he prompts, and Kouki recalls his talk with Shiki from few weeks ago.

‘Is it possible to widen number of our advisers? Or even somebody just below them.’ he quickly adds, realizing it might seem like creating possible source of conflict within the domain. ‘Recently, we’ve noticed... strange is not the correct word, I guess, but. The vampire Soul Spirit Users from the outer shelters move out of them. Those few human neighbors they kept in touch with were informed they plan to move to bigger shelter, however, I didn’t register any influx, neither did officials from Yaegashi or Sakuraba. Frankly speaking, I’m unsettled, and I have nobody to ask for that.’

‘Because we don’t have vampire representative among advisers.’ Etou senior nods. ‘But, Fujimura can’t explain it to you?’

Kouki shakes his head.

‘He was brought up among humans, and mostly keeps in contact only with those vampires within Tsukino. He’s closer to a dhampire than a vampire at this point, I feel. Plus, Fujimuras never were interested in power or politics...’ he answers.

‘That’s true.’ his father hums. ‘I’ll give it a thought, although it might take time. Vampires are only a quarter of beings that depends on us, and we still have matters regarding all of us to consider.’

‘But if the quarter is different to the remaining three parts, it should have a way of showing their opinion, their differences.’ Kouki argues. ‘Not everyone can be like Mamoru. Hopefully nobody will have to go through same thing as him.’

‘I know, and I agree.’ Etou senior sighs again. ‘I’ll see what can be done, but be prepared it will take time. Especially since, as you say, vampire Spirit Users seem to start to disappear, for whatever reason.’

He cheers up slightly.

‘But, even they will be pleased with the next news I’m going to tell you. I haven’t included them in our discussion, as it’s a project only in its testing stages, but. Our researchers report development of device capable of mechanical purification.’

For some reason Kouki, instead of feeling elation, feels unrest. Then again, maybe it’s because of how undeveloped the project is - if his father didn’t include it in their little council time, only bringing it up at the end, where they just leisurely chat...

‘Is that so? Did they have some kind of breakthrough?’ he asks, because well, Etou research branch has been working on a way to invent mechanical purifiers and relieve Field Support Units for years. His father nods, before standing up and coming to the door. After requesting for the refreshments to be brought in, he comes back.

‘Yes, in fact, they did. Apparently, one of them had an eureka moment after using magnifying glass.’ he chuckles, then thanks the servants that come in with the tea and some snacks.

The unspoken rule of both Etous was to drink only water during the council meetings. Everybody in the house knew that, if the master asks for refreshments, the official meetings, no matter what they may be, have come to an end.

Now, too, a maid smiles in Kouki’s direction, even as she pours him his cup of tea and asks what he’d like to eat for dinner - apparently, lady of the house was getting too excited and the cook wanted to hear his opinion before she orders them to cook all of their reserves...

‘Something simple, please. I don’t even know if I will be able to stay for the duration of the whole dinner.’

Maid nods, but before she disappears, Etou senior calls out to her, asking her to pass a short message to Kouki’s mom.

Kouki smiles knowingly. Both him and his father were useless against the typhoon of energy that was his mother, but that didn’t mean they both didn’t love her anyway.

And having her with them meant she wouldn’t waste reserves for a dinner for Kouki.

‘Where were we now?’ his father muses and Kouki obediently reminds him.

‘Something about magnifying glass?’

‘Right, right. So, the researcher decided to use the same mechanic as magnifying glass uses, only instead of making it optical, they decided to replicate the effect with glyph stones, shaped and carved to amplify certain aspects of energy put through them.’

He frowns softly, sipping at the tea.

‘Original target was to make it capable of purification with neutral energy, but it seems that was too ambitious. They’ve changed it up a bit, and now are on the phase where they test it with different affinities.’

Ah. Here it was. The problem Kouki feared.

‘What did they try it with?’ he asks, and his father hums thoughtfully.

‘I’m sure they did it with water and earth. Right now they should be in a phase of testing it with fire and thunder. If those bring promising results, there will be a need for light... oh. I see.’

He smiles at his son.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll warn you if we will need your help with it. You are our strongest light user.’

It’s at this moment that Kouki’s mother chooses to literally run through the door, successfully ending any more serious conversation, as the lady of the Etous strongly demanded for her men to be able to have at least a bit of time for relaxation.

It prevented Kouki from asking the most pressing question, though.

_„What about Growth? If light turns out the only thing capable of working with the device, what about my Song?”_

*

Even without serious topics during dinner, the talk naturally turns to Tsukino due to the failed attempt at securing the Kuga twins by the council two weeks ago, and against himself, Kouki becomes amused. It seems his father was forced to tell his wife that story quite a lot of times, since he sounded borderline tired when recallig it during dinner. Still fond, though, probably due to the perspective his wife adds to it.

‘And the boys will be fine just like that?’ she asks, after laughing to her heart’s content once his father describes the smooth way in which Tsubasa-san casually exposed all of council true motives. ‘Because I know your colleagues’ egos won’t.’

Kouki quickly reaches for a glass to drink something and quench laughter bubbling in his throat.

‘From as much as I could gather, they will be more than fine.’ Etou senior answers, sending amused look Kouki’s way. ‘Putting aside the fact their Unit is paired with Kouki’s, they seemed to have absolute trust in the adults next to them, race notwithstanding. Of course, I couldn’t ask them too many questions, since I was part of the party they deemed a „danger”, but from what little they personally answered me, it seemed to be true.’

His mother hums, before turning to Kouki.

‘And how they look to you, dear?’

‘Eichi is the one taking care of Issei and Ichiru. Well, mostly.’ he confirms. ‘He is doting towards them, but he recognizes behaviour needing correction, all while making sure to maintain good contact, and comfortable environment to develop. They’re in good hands.’

‘If you say so.’ she smiles. ‘I guess that’s the answer to a question why you don’t suspect they were manipulated to sign that contract.’

Kouki nods, but his father adds.

‘The ink was practically fresh on the papers, and they were in room secured with containment runes, there were no way for mental manipulation there. Well, Okui could probably find a way around it, but I doubt he had to. There seemed to be a connection forged between Quell, already.’

‘Well, they were saved by Shu-san, after all.’ Kouki says distractedly, then shifts as both his parents look alerted at him. ‘That’s what was in the document of their Pact of Belonging?’

‘Documents...’ Etou senior says slowly. ‘ There was mention of them coming into contact with Wanderers, that was interrupted by the Izumi group, but... so you say that was Izumi himself?’

Kouki nods.

‘I’ve never asked them personally, and Eichi-san also seems to know the story secondhand, but. Considering what we know about Composers and their approach to their Singers, I’m pretty sure Shu-san was the one to get them out of trouble.’ he looks at his father. ‘They snapped at you about it, didn’t they?’

‘Ah. Right.’ his father’s shoulders sag tiredly. ‘The „you notice orphans only when you need them” huh.’

‘I’ve got apology from Eichi-san about that.’ Kouki says quickly. ‘He wanted you to know it wasn’t anything personal, and that they were just aggravated about the situation as a whole.’

‘Aggravated?’ his mother tilts her head. ‘They grew so attached to their Composer?’

‘I’m quite sure it’s mutual among all of Quell.’ Kouki recalls with a smile. ‘For one, I know they will always have a piece of cake to cheer them up, if what Shu-san did after their first mission was any indication.’

His parents snort as one - he did tell them the story of the now infamous cream puff party...

Somehow, he is called out only as they start on a dessert.

‘There seems to be unnatural clogging of the region that the Special Unit has recently passed. We were asked to investigate it, to make sure they won’t get cut off.’ Kensuke says after coming to pick him up and saying his regards to his parents (mother just smiles fondly - for a ground-dweller, she had a really soft spot for both his retainers).

Kouki nods, exiting the room after saying his goodbyes quickly and then asking:

‘Quell is dispatching with us?’

‘Yeah, Shu-san is with them, though, so we are to try and behave as if they were already independent and not cadets.’ Kensuke says, before grinning. ‘Did your dad grill you about Tsubasa-san wiping the floor with the council?’

‘Tsubasa-san's own father is part of that council, too, Ken. Plus, he wants to stay on good terms so as not to inflict revenge, so he didn’t do as much as he could to them.’ Kouki reminds with a small smile. Despite the privacy of the actual meeting, Tsubasa owning the council trying to split Quell has became kind of urban legend among Tsukino forces, earning the hunter additional respect points with many people and vampires alike.

Kensuke chuckles.

‘Still, you have to admit it was a good wake up call for them.’

‘Hopefully in the right direction.’ Kouki says, before changing topics. ‘Did you get more information about dispatch mission?’

*

Moving out with another Unit wasn’t necessarily a novelty, they did dispatch with Solids, and even went on a joint mission with Soara. Of course, they also were requested to support Units outside Organization, albeit rarer than Soara. Each of these dispatches had different type of tension to them.

With Quell, it’s mostly comfortable flow of unending questions and answers, information passing from one to the other, Mamoru asking Shu things, and twins asking rest of Growth things in return.

It almost feels like a simple exercise, and not a Field dispatch.

Still, the air around them tell him a completely different story, and judging by Shu’s eyes changing, Kouki can assume other leader feels the same thing.

‘Issei, Ichiru.’ High calls out, and twins instantly stop pestering Ryota about Serpent’s relation to water (he seemed pleased with their questions, though), to return to their leader’s side.

‘Today we’re only securing purification team in case of emergency.’ Shu continues, before nodding in Growth's direction. ‘Watch carefully, but don’t let yourselves get dragged too deep into a Song. Finding balance between it and your surroundings is part of a challenge.’

‘Mamoru.’ Kouki calls in the meanwhile, and vampire moves closer to get his seal off.

‘That is part of Composer job?’ unsuredly asks Ichiru. ‘Not that I’ve seen you and Eichi do it.’

He adds, and Ryota, Kensuke and Eichi all snort, while Shu smiles.

‘No, it’s part of agreement between Fujimura and Etou families.’

‘Wisteria agreement?’ muses Issei, and Growth once again snorts in laughter.

‘You could say that~’ Mamoru turns to them. ‘Thanks to the seal Kou-kun just took off I’m practically invisible to the vampires and people sensitive to music. I can hide the fact I’m a Composer. It blocks a bit of my Sight - not much, Kou-kun, so don’t look like that - so it’s better if we take it off when preparing for purification, or others will have more job in getting adjusted to the Song I can’t direct them to.’

‘Is that so...’ Issei says, his eyes flashing pure blue, the same as Shu’s eyes were all the time. ‘Is music the waves that go through you?’

‘Eh?’ Mamoru asks, and Issei elaborates.

‘Everybody has them, but yours changed just moments ago, so.’

Mamoru looks at Kouki, then at the older Composer, lost. Shu chuckles.

‘Your instinct is directing you in a good direction, but not completely, Issei.’ he says. ‘You’re sensing emotions that are direct result of the Songs, which is actually a pretty unique skill, even for an Elemental. I’ll explain more, but after the mission. We’re still on the Field.’

‘Ah.’ responds his Unit and Mamoru, and Ryota snorts.

‘You wouldn’t tell, with this behavior, right.’

With that they separate, Quell making space for Growth. Mamoru takes a deep breath and then spreads his arms.

‘Now watch the world, Issei.’ Shu whispers as trickle of sounds appear, and with it, Growth moves. Chant is started by Ryota, Mamoru and Kensuke, and is broken by Kouki, then Kouki and Ryota continue while Kensuke breaks...

The passing from group chant to solo incantation then back to chorus again continues until Mamoru isn't the one to break it, but then there’s harmony, and then the refrain, sung on four different but harmonized cadences, and Issei’s head swirls, because water around them reflected each and every change like this.

‘Issei, focus.’ Shu gently reprimands him, and Issei looks with disbelief at older Elemental; on top of feeling all that, Shu has to sense the Song, as well, right? How is he even...

As if feeling his bafflement, Shu smiles.

‘You still have time to learn. But, to learn, you need to try.’

Issei nods, once more trying to accept the allure of music without drowning in it. It’s hard, as even his element is coaxed by the four voices.

The hymn of the light and the sea joins two purifying elements and washes over the plain in front of them, changes the faraway shadows into more alive trees and bushes, and lets the ground come alive, rousing the grass scorched with Black Despair to restart its growing process and invite life into the plain, once more...

‘Issei.’ Shu patiently repeats, and Issei shakes his head with frustration. ‘It’s okay, it was better than the last time. Try again.’

And Issei tries, Ichiru scooting closer, to help, provide reference point, anchor Issei in his body, before the music wash both of them away.

‘It has this much allure to you?’ Eichi asks above the twins, and Shu looks onto the slowly brightening plain.

‘Mamoru choose a Song to amplify both water’s and light’s purifying abilities. It’s probably a bit harder than usual because of that, but. It’s a good exercise.’

‘Shu,’ Issei suddenly calls out, as Growth move just past the bridge of the Song, ‘say, should Despair... seep back?’

‘Seep back?’ Shu repeats, and Issei nods, before pointing to somewhere in front of them.

‘It’s far away, but...’ he hesitates, realizing he and Ichiru unconsciously connected, amplifying his range. Shu sighs.

‘It’s okay. Show me.’ he says, coming to place gentle hand on Issei’s shoulder.

He manages to see what Issei felt only after Growth finishes their Song - twins grew stronger yet again, he notes at the back of his mind.

‘Shu-san?’ Kouki calls out questioningly, after Mamoru looks at Quell, currently huddled around their Elementals. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘Unfortunately, yes.’ Shu sighs, prompting their partner Unit to stiffen. ‘Kouki, can you release light probe at two o’clock, some three... three thousand seven hundred... sixty metres from us? I need a confirmation from fellow cleansing element. Although I doubt both me and Issei could be wrong.’

‘What is it, Shu?’ Eichi asks, even as Kouki nods and shapes a ball of gentle light, shining even in the sunny weather that appeared once the Song started cleaning air as well.

‘I hope I’m mistaken, but... probably irregular.’ Shu answers, once the light flies out and then they see a faint explosion in the distance. Kouki’s back stiffen.

‘That’s... I’ve never felt something like...’

‘Neither did I.’ calmly says Shu, coming to the other leader’s side. ‘But, that way, we at least know what caused this sudden infection in the region that was temporarily cleansed by the Special Unit.’

‘What is it? Kou, Shu-san?’ Kensuke asks, but Issei is the one to answer.

‘Liquid Puppetmaster.’ he says, looking at both Shu and Kouki. ‘Right?’

‘As hard to believe as it is, I felt the same.’ Kouki quickly gathers himself, before looking at rest of Units. ‘We need to decide on the course of action. It didn’t seem to be able to get into air, so, Ken.’

‘Yessir!’ Kensuke jogs up to Kouki, unbuttoning his collar to give access to his pulse point. Kouki hesitates.

‘The technique you and Ryo used when we first were met with irregular, before Feather Village,’ he says slowly, and both his retainers blink, ‘will you be able to use it again without handicapping Ken’s mobility?’

Ryota hums, before nodding.

‘It should be fine if I change affinity. Water tends to mesh better with air than earth, after all.’ he says, coming next to his counterpart.

‘You can change your affinity? Isn’t that awesome?’ Ichiru asks, looking between Snake User and Shu. Although they talked a bit about it, it seemed not everything registered with Ichiru. ‘Like, super awesome?’

‘I can, but not as easily as Eichi-san can turn his energy into neutral affinity, for example.’ Ryota smiles briefly. ‘And I’ll never be at a control level of Elemental in either, so I need to make up with flexibility.’

‘That, you have no problem with.’ grins Kensuke, even as he lets his wings unfurl. Ryota snorts, before reaching his hand out. Kensuke mirrors his motion, wings curling forward. Then, Ryota’s eyes change to slits.

‘Target clear.’ he informs everyone, before addressing Ken. ‘Have a safe trip. I don’t like how it feels.’

‘Got it.’ before anybody can respond to him, Kensuke takes to the air. ‘Be back in a second!’

‘What do you want to confirm?’ Shu asks Kouki, who shakes his head.

‘Just to check the form it takes. Lately, we had too many irregular Puppetmasters around. One of the two Solids has met after that retrieval mission was also...’

‘Ah, I’ve heard about that.’ Shu says quickly. ‘There was also one in Etou domain? Creating barriers.’

Kouki nods.

‘I want to gather as much information as we can, to perhaps find common points... because I doubt we can predict the next one that we will encounter.’

‘No, it’s a good idea.’ Shu muses, even as Issei tugs at his sleeve. ‘Issei?’

‘What makes them irregular?’

Shu blinks.

‘Puppetmasters?’ he confirms. ‘Well, their behavior is different, range of skills, too. Over the past thirty years, we worked out quite a good understanding of their regular actions, something like how you predict an adults' behavior based on his profession and personal background. That’s why Units are created the way they are. Irregulars are derailing that understanding.’

‘And they not feel different?’ Issei asks. ‘I can’t tell, that’s the first time I sense one, but... it isn’t strange?’

‘In what way?’ Shu turns fully to the twins. It was true they were least experienced members on the Field right now, but that only meant their instincts were also less constrained by the schematic thinking than others.

Issei hesitates.

‘Like it had... still something to do with element.’ he says. ‘We know it’s impossible because they lose it to Despair, but...’

‘If they get created like Marionettes, they’re made from humans, right.’ Ichiru says, and Issei nods.

‘And humans seem to be able to control more than just one element at once.’ older twin continues, and Shu knows, he’s now talking with both twins thinking and sharing their thoughts with each other at once.

‘And if the last one irregular was encountered by Solids- that means at that rescue mission-’

‘-then it had to do something with those abductions-’

‘-and those vampires called us- called children a cargo, material-’

‘-plus human experimentation isn’t that foreign-’

'-and children are still unpredictable because they aren't fully developed adults, right-'

‘-so is it possible-’

‘-that those Puppetmasters are human children morphed only enough to use Despair?’ twins finish in unison their rapid thought exchange.

Shu inhales sharply.

‘Aside of young age, the cores of abducted children were slightly larger.’ he slowly says, feeling like the idea twins proposed throws new light at the case.

‘And flexibility of younger minds to embrace newer skills are common knowledge.’ Kouki adds worriedly. 'So is the irrational, from adult's perspective, approach to things.'

‘But it’s still just a hypothesis.’ Eichi interrupts. He then smiles at the twins. ‘We’ve recovered all the children, last time, so we know none of them were turned.'

His eyes darken.

'But, if that thesis is right, on top of saving them from a terrible fate, we also prevented quite a lot of trouble...’

‘Tsukino-san has said this case had something to do with the Field, on Munakata-kun’s hearing.’ Shu muses humorlessly. ‘That thesis just put another meaning on this line... if we manage to prove it’s like that.’

‘That’s why we need to gather as much data as we can, for now.’ Kouki agrees. ‘Then...’

‘I know.’ Shu nods. ‘Just in case, we can set up a temporary shield afterwards, that will protect the Field from reinfection from that direction until Special won’t return. In case that Puppetmaster won’t be the only one.’

‘Why only temporary?’ Ichiru asks curiously. ‘Too much energy?’

‘That, and also, it requires constant supervision.’ Shu nods. ‘Remember how Solids dispatch to the western nest once every few weeks? It’s for Rikka to maintain the barrier he spread over the western nest. It’s still worth it, because he more or less blocks one whole main nest, but if we set such barriers over each and every terrain we cleanse, we’d soon run out of active members to respond to emergencies, while not gaining terrain, as Field would still be uninhabitable.’

‘Rikka-san’s barrier is a flower field, right? We still haven’t seen it...’ Issei ponders, and Shu’s smile widens, even as both Kouki and Ryota register Kensuke’s arrival at his destination.

‘I’ll take you there sometime.’ he looks at Eichi. ‘All of you.’

‘For now, you probably need to take us to where we will be spreading the barrier from, though.’ Eichi consciously point out, even if he got considerably warmer from that look. ‘We shouldn’t leave everything to Growth~’

‘Right.’ twins and Shu chorus, and Ryota snorts softly.

‘It’s fine,’ he says, ‘we’re such a hybrid combi that we will probably reverse the roles in this case, too. There’s no Marionettes near this Puppetmaster, so. Kouki can take him out alone.’

‘Light users are terrifying~ not that I should be the one saying it.’ Mamoru says, sheepish, prompting huff of amusement from Kouki.

‘Definitely shouldn’t, considering it’s your Songs that drag out my true potential.’ his sight focuses on something on the horizon. ‘But you and Shu-san should back away for now. I might accidentally hurt you otherwise.’

‘Eh? Why?’ Ichiru looks baffled, even as Shu nods.

‘The transmission of light.’ his leader explains. ‘Kouki-kun can use Ryota-kun and Kensuke-kun as sort of... transmission points? For his element, thanks to their bond. But, this will not happen one-to-one, user of different element won’t be able to take all of the light power, even as just a somebody instantly passing it forward. That’s why, it’s highly probable there will be something like afterwave creating itself around Kouki- kun.’

‘And while I’ll be absorbing some of it and returning it to Kou, it will still be strong enough to hurt an unrelated vampire.’ Ryota finishes explanation. ‘Though I guess it’s less likely in case of a High like Shu-san.’

Twins shift.

‘Isn’t that like... secret superpower? Or something?’ Ichiru asks, looking between the leaders. ‘Shu, should you know this much?’

Kouki huffs amused, and Shu smiles.

‘No, but I’m head of the Group that has a Pact of Cooperation with Etous, I know a little more than unrelated vampire should.’

‘You also know Roa-san.’ Kouki reminds, before adding, ‘Please brace yourselves.’

He reaches both his hands up, and twins can see a faint glimmer, as if someone spilled gold powder from the spot Kouki was standing on, spreading on the ground and disappearing few metres away. Simultaneously, they hear faraway screech, and Ryota flinches.

‘Kou, done.’ he hisses, massaging his ear. ‘But Ken got a bit stunned. It was _loud._ ’

‘Can you reverse the tracking technique? To lead him back?’ Kouki asks worriedly, and Ryota tilts his head for a second, before nodding, his pupils rounding out.

‘Ken’s on the way.’ he reports, and Kouki smiles in relief. 'A bit shaky but fine, or so he says.'

‘Then, all that’s left is securing this Field remains as clear as it is now.’ Shu says, moving forward, Quell instantly following him.

‘Please.’ Kouki says, making place for them. And Shu starts explanation of how to create barrier from a distance.

‘It doesn’t have to be physical wall,’ he wraps up, looking at the twins, ‘but a form that will make it react to Despair and defend itself, as well as what is behind it.’

‘So, like a river?’ Ichiru asks, and Issei hums, raising both hands to visualize his brother’s idea. Water condenses above his hands and wraps like a ribbon in a circle. ‘Yeah, like that!’

‘Sustaining constant flow to it will be too draining, though, right?’ Eichi asks, looking at twin’s creation. ‘Even if the matrix would be easy to create.’

‘Eh?’ Ichiru looks at his nodding twin. ‘And I thought that’s a good idea...’

‘For a strong temporary barrier, it is.’ Shu says. ‘For example, if we were guarding a first-aid station, waiting for its’ evacuation to finish, I would also go with the river. It’s natural state for water, and it wouldn’t take much focus to create, only energy.’

‘But we want something that’s both easy to form, since we’re working from distance, and something with static, low need for energy...’ Issei muses, before blinking. ‘What about cat’s cradle?’

He shows his idea by tangling the previously created mini-river around his fingers, creating a simple net, and Shu nods in agreement.

‘That’s a good idea. Let’s get to work, unless you have questions? We shouldn’t prolong the stay on the Field unnecessarily.’ Shu asks, and Ichiru instantly raises his hand.

‘Who’s Roa-san?’

‘Ah.’ Shu and Kouki chorus, before vampire smiles.

‘Mikaze Roa. Currently the only light Elemental in Japan. He looks after any light user that appear, so he is acquaintances with Kouki-kun as well. He was part of the Unit of Seven with me.’

‘So, awesome guy?’ Ichiru asks, and Shu chuckles.

‘You could say that. You’d like him. Now, though, I see Kensuke-kun on the horizon, so we should really get to work.’

*

After the return from that mission, and proposal to pursuit the possible evidences of the downright unsettling theory Kuga twins created, Kouki finds himself incredibly busy, to the point he forgets all about the meeting with his father that happened just before it.

After all, what are domain’s matters in face of potential breakthrough in the studies on their opponents?

It’s not necessary a good thing, because when he meets his father for their regular report discussion two weeks later, he is frankly shocked.

‘I think the research has enough potential for you to leave Growth to focus on it now, Kouki.’ his father sounds excited.

Kouki is not.

‘The research...? The automatic purification one? Is it advanced this much?’ he asks, trying to hide his surprise and swallow down the instant protest that raises to his throat.

Rule of the Field, check the situation first.

His father nods, pulling out few sheets of papers with data.

‘It did. Look at the results of the test runs.’ he presents the sheet with tables upon tables of numbers to his son. Kouki scans them, while his father explains. ‘The trials with thunder and fire prove promising - the users reported strong resistance they had to fight against, but their elements purified, and purified without regular side-effects we associate with them.’

‘But the purification amount was not too high.’ Kouki looks dubiously at the sheet in his hand. ‘I’m pretty sure in Field situation even offense-focused Song has higher stats than that.’

‘Those elements aren’t known as the best purifiers, too.’ his father points out. ‘And yet, they presented the results, _visible_ results, something we couldn't achieve without an Elemental involved, before. With an actual purifying element... those are the predictions for behavior in Field environment. Don’t you think this isn’t something a single human would be able to carry out?’

Kouki bites his lip. It was true, the report was done meticulously, so the prediction included even the marigin of mistake caused by different Field’s conditions...

The numbers weren’t something even he could manage on his own.

_„But you never go alone, Child of Light.”_

‘They’re impressive, indeed, but... why the rush?’ Kouki asks, and at that, Etou senior sighs.

‘This was a project that has been going on for years, Kouki.’ he smiles wryly. ‘Rather, you should be asking „why only now?”. As for the reasons for getting it onto the Field... there’s many, and you know most of them. Making it preserve energy on our side, ease the strain on Support and Transport Units, start possible reclamation of infested regions... maybe even start thinking about pushing Marionettes back into the nests, and then destroying these nests, actually reclaiming our country.’

Kouki doesn’t answer.

‘I think I know what makes you so reluctant to the idea, son.’ his parent’s tone slips out of the one befitting lord of the domain and into warmer, more fatherly one. ‘You don’t want to leave Growth behind.’

‘Well...’ what was he supposed to answer to that? It was true. ‘I would lie if I said it’s not part of the reason. But also, Growth operates in a bigger picture, with rest of Tsukino, protecting both our region and rest of the shelters.’

‘And I’m not saying it should stop, but it will need a new leader, until the development phase ends.' 

Which would mean the year at least. Year without Growth.

'Or well, acting Field leader, nothing stands against you managing them from the shelter, they are your retainers, and then including them into implementation project. Of course, we would have to make separate agreement with Fujimura to let him continue dispatching, provided he will still wish for that, but-’

‘This... won’t work, father.’ Kouki says slowly. ‘It’s... Mamoru did start working on Solos, but Unit Songs require inclusion of all voices they were Composed for. If I don’t dispatch... it just won’t work, no matter how skilled the new leader would be.’

His father looks at him, humming for a while.

‘I guess you see something I don’t see, because Tsukino has said the same thing, when I warned him about possible withdrawal from his Unit.’ he says, and Kouki looks at him in surprise. Etou senior smiles wryly. ‘You didn’t think I wouldn’t predict your worry for the relationship and activity within Tsukino? Especially since technically, Growth works under both him and myself.’

‘No, I didn’t, but...’ Kouki never protested at his father actions regarding him, but now, he’s slightly taken aback. ‘Did you really... talk with General before talking to me?’

‘Exchanged messages, to be more specific.’ his father answers. ‘And not the ones deciding your fate behind your back, like you might feel right now. I didn’t raise you to be dependant on others making decisions for you, and frankly speaking, I’m sure you wouldn’t agree if I did, at this point. That’s a good thing.’

He leans back.

‘But, as you’ve pointed out, it is a situation for which Tsukino would have to prepare. I wanted to give him a heads up so that he could start on it. But,’ he huffs without anger, ‘it seems you’re not the only one sceptic as to the leader change. General answered that he can temporarily suspend your work, but he cannot allow changes to an Unit with Composer in it.’

Kouki feels not-so irrational gratitude towards his General, as he nods.

‘The same happened when Soara lost a member to an investigation of the kidnappings.’ he says, and his father nods. ‘But, father, I... I’m still not convinced this is the best course of action. Be it for the Field or domain. I just...’

‘Don’t stress, Kouki.’ his father says slowly, tone turning serious. ‘I know it’s a hard decision, but. You need to remember who you are.’

‘Etou Kouki, the seventeenth generation of Etou Soul Spirit Users, vessel of the light dragon Aesodius. Third head of Etou domain since the Great Tragedy.’ His father nods and Kouki finishes. ‘The one to one day care for all lives in the domain.’

‘Exactly that.’ his counterpart leans back in. ‘And that research will most likely make this future job of yours and current job of mine just a little bit easier. If the light impulse, as they dubbed this hypothetical technique created with your help, will turn out to be successful.’

‘Still...’ Kouki shifts. He feels Aesodius’ upset at the idea of leaving Mamoru, leaving Growth behind. But, if it’s how his father says... the device will ease burdens on Ryo and Ken, and especially on Mamoru, who hated Field, more than anything. Neither of his retainers would have to face the things that took away parts of their families again, and Mamoru wouldn’t be faced with an abomination whose whole existence was focused on hating him.

Still...

‘Growth was a means for you to deepen your understanding of the outside politics, and a way to have you help with easing the pressure on domain from outside. Both those goals were since exceeded many times over. But, you must remember we’re not free to choose the means we use to ensure our domain’s security by our wants, our likes and dislikes. It’s by the effectiveness they present.’ his father’s eyes are gentle, as if aware of the turmoil inside Kouki. Irrational part of teenager wished they weren’t. ‘You understand what I mean? If this research proves a better choice-’

‘Then, let’s compare it.’ Kouki isn’t aware he interrupted his father, the sudden idea something he feels he needs to bring up now, or he’ll lose something very important. ‘Let’s not just test this light impulse, but compare its effectiveness with the available methods. This way, rather than rhetorical usefulness, we will compare the actual effects I can achieve with both means.’

His father looks at him calculative.

‘Can you promise me you will do your best with using both to their maximum potential?’ he asks slowly. ‘I know it’s hard thing to ask for, but...’

‘Our domain’s well-being comes before our likes and dislikes. I know. I remember.’ Kouki nods. ‘I won’t break the one rule that allowed the domain to survive.’

*

‘And that’s why we will be actively suspended from today onwards, and you will have to withdraw from the dorm come next week, to start adjustments for the experiment. Did I understand correctly?’ Ryota says with toneless voice, and Kouki bows his head.

‘I’m sorry I’ve dragged you all into this, it’s just... I have to know the choice is absolutely the best for the domain.’ he says, and hears a frustrated huff.

Ryota never became angry with him like he so freely became with both Mamoru and Ken. In a way, Kouki was slightly jealous of that freedom of expressing emotions towards the two that his earth retainer never showed to him. He wondered if this was the distance Ryota decided they should maintain as the lord and his retainer...

‘I’m going for a walk.’ comes Ryota’s voice, confirming Kouki’s suspicions. ‘Before I say something I’ll regret.’

‘I’m really sorry, Ryota.’ Kouki can only repeat, and gets the irritated huff in response once again.

‘No, that’s not the resolution either of you wants, so, don’t give up conversation so easily?’ Kensuke says, jumping to his feet and following after Snake Spirit User. ‘Ryo, don’t run away!’

‘I’m not running away, just trying not to escalate as you’ve accused me of so many times.’

‘This and that are two different things!’ Kensuke argues. ‘When you escalate, at least you talk about the same thing your speaker does! And you don’t even let Kou realize he’s not talking about the same you are angry about?’

‘What’s there to be angry about?’ Ryota says dryly, his posture betraying that he is, in fact, angry. ‘Our lord has decided to go ahead without us yet again, there’s nothing we can do about it!’

‘I’m-’

‘No, _now_ you’re escalating.’ Kensuke says consciously, and Ryota growls at him, once again turning to the exit. Other retainer catches at his wrist. ‘That doesn’t mean you should leave!’

‘And why not?!’ Ryota turns and the anger he shows comes mostly from frustration. ‘You yourself just saw I won’t be able to reason calmly like that!’

‘Ken.’ Kouki speaks up quietly, tone mostly sad. ‘Let Ryo go. He doesn’t have to stay with me, if this is what-’

‘You, keep quiet.’ Kensuke snaps at him, shocking practically everyone in the room. ‘You’re just like Ryo, unaware of talking about two completely different problems.’

He continues in a much softer tone, once other Users just continue staring at him.

‘You’ve kicked my emotional ass into shape during the Feather Village, because we weren’t on the same page and would mess up otherwise. Or, at least, _I_ didn’t realize we were on the same page, and would mess us up.’ he says, prompting a soft huff from Ryota. ‘Now, I want to pay that back, I want to find a way to at least get us talking about the real problem that we have in front of ourselves. But, for that, I need all of us in one place, so. Let me try? Please?’

He turns pleading eyes on both other humans in the room, but it’s the vampire that speaks up next.

‘I... actually think Ken-kun is on to something.’ Mamoru shifts when all eyes turn to him, before smiling shyly. ‘But I don’t think it’s that complicated to solve.’

Everybody blinks, as he turns towards Kouki.

‘Kou-kun. Let me just ask you one thing, but I want an answer with a condition.’

‘Condition?’ Kouki blinks, but then nods. ‘As long as I can fulfill it...’

‘I’m sure you can!’ Mamoru grins at them all reassuringly. ‘Because I want Kou-kun to answer me not as an Etou’s heir, the future lord of all of Etou domain, but as the Kou-kun, the now nineteen year old, friend of Ryo-kun and Ken-kun. And well, maybe myself as well?’

‘That’s- of course you’re also my friend?’ Kouki sounds both confused and slightly offended. ‘All of you are. That’s how I think of you, at least.'

Mamoru smiles calmingly.

‘Then can you answer me, not as a leader, and domain’s heir, and Immortal’s vessel, but as a Kou-kun: do you want to have something be better than Songs, so that the test comes out in favor of you leaving Growth?’

‘Tha- That’s...’ Kouki seems to choke on his own words, before he takes a deep breath. ‘Of course not. I want to stay in Growth. For me, Mamoru’s Songs are the best. I love them.’

 _„You love the man creating them.”_ at the same time adds Aesodius, but Kouki ignores the dragon. It was a question for him.

Although that input from his Spirit did make him miss the visible relaxation in shoulders of both his retainers.

‘But, if for the sake of survival-’

‘Ah, I didn’t ask about all those things.’ Mamoru smiles, face flushed and eyes shining with excitement, before jumping to his feet. ‘I got the answer I needed, so! If Kou-kun doesn’t want to leave us, it’s great!’

With that, he moves as if to leave the room, and Kouki grasps at his wrist, alerted. He was missing something. With Ryota, he could understand the need of departure, but why was the vampire...?

‘Mamoru? Where are you-’

Vampire just smiles at him.

‘To Compose.’ he answers. ‘I know what your feelings are, so I just have to work in accordance with them. We all have, actually, but~ I need to start.’

He releases his hand from Kouki’s grasp gently.

‘It’s okay, Kou-kun.’ he adds reassuringly, squeezing it once. ‘If you don’t want to leave, I just need a Song that won’t allow anybody take you away from us. You won’t be alone.’

With that, he disappears, his voice changing to a soft hum as he already slips into the world of music.

‘What... was that.’ Kouki says slowly, almost to himself, then flinches as Ryota huffs.

‘Mamoru confirmed our emotions are on the same page again, so the Song will work.’ he answers his lord, tone slightly exasperated, but Kouki, to his shock, hears traces of fondness in it already. ‘You’ve told us his Songs work based on the union of the feelings of the Singers yourself, Kou.’

‘I... did... but...’

‘Kou-sama~’ he has an arm of a Bird Spirit User wrapped around his shoulders all of sudden. ‘I think we’ve had a talk about protecting us too much once?’

‘We did, but, what?’ Kouki feels his head swirl. Weren’t they angry that he was pulling them into the unnecessary testing just moments-

‘It’s as Ken says.’ Ryota dryly interrupts his thoughts. ‘We won’t break if you want to be selfish from time to time, you know. Especially not if your selfishness is about staying together.’

He adds last sentence much softer than the others, and Kensuke grins.

‘Agreed!’ he looks at his lord from up close. ‘Ne, Kou? I can almost see the „but, if I sacrifice my happiness without questioning it first, others can have it easier, so I shouldn’t even have to drag you into it to decide” at the tip of your tongue, so. Don’t even bother.’

‘But, that’s- I wouldn’t phrase it this way-’

‘But it would boil down to the same thing.’ Kensuke smoothly interrupts him, again. ‘And we don’t want that. Mamoru doesn’t, either. That’s why he went straight into Composer mode - his Muse has a wish he can fulfill.’

‘That’s...’ Kouki swallows.

As a lord, he should always present himself respectably, lead everyone with his example, but... retainers weren’t blindly following servants. They were advisers as much as they were helpers, right? So... maybe it was okay... to entrust them with his selfish doubts.

‘Will it... really be okay?’

‘Just what are you talking about?’ Ryota scoffs, turning from the door and marching back to the armchair he previously sat on. ‘You will use that impulse machinery or whatever it is with all your might, and then we will present Growth’s Song that will be even stronger than that. What is there to not be alright?’

Kouki stares at his second retainer, and Ryota sighs.

‘Kouki, seriously... Mamoru Composes for your sake. We will Sing for your sake. We want to.’ he stresses, seeing Kouki open his mouth. ‘If your wish is to stay with us, but feel guilty about not deciding upon potential usefulness of the situation to the domain and humanity as a whole, we will create a situation that fulfills both your wish and your condition of being more beneficial to humanity.’

‘As the snake has said!’ cheerfully adds Kensuke.

‘Shut it, chicken.’

‘Ne, Kou?’ both his retainers turn to him, before Kensuke continues. ‘We swore to help you and support you, right? „So that you’re not alone, the bond has now connected us; I will protect you with the courage and love” and all this stuff, remember?’

Kouki blinks, and feels wetness filling his eyes. The fact he doesn’t feel mortified, doesn’t feel the need to instantly hide his weakness, is a proof enough to him, that he sits in front of not only his retainers, but also his closest, dearest friends.

‘Yeah. I remember.’

And they did exactly what they swore they’ll do.

*

Unbeknownst to them, the exact same words filled head and poured onto clear sheet of paper under one certain vampire’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Question, will I ever stop using paraphrased lines from the songs as words for Oaths, Pacts, Prophecies, and magical charms?  
> Probably not, huh.  
> Oh well, at least you know what's the next chapter's title, lol  
> Also, will I ever remember to jot down stuff like names of the parents of our heroes? Do you know how many times I had to write mother because I couldn't find that one drama track where she's introduced in canon, and I don't want to come up with a name?  
> Thanks for reading!


	16. Supernova, once again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New month, new chapter?  
> This one is going to be my lucky charm, I'm going to have a job interview tomorrow, regarding possible editor's job, and I'm both terrified and excited, so.  
> I'm posting this, after initial betaing, as a certain "if you betaed it, you can beta anything they throw at you" charm.  
> Anyway, off with that personal addendum and on into the story! I've realized I made a grave mistake in a shipping department regarding Growth, and so, beginning decides to fix it~! Then the rest happens, I guess.  
> Enjoy!

‘What will we do, if the Song fails to present the results that will convince Etou-sama?’

Ryota huffs.

He and Kensuke sit in the training room, waiting for Soara to finish their basic training to join them in self defense, as the more experienced fighters. Kensuke, being Kensuke, started a small chat, that soon shifted to heavier topics. Namely the situation that allowed them to be the tutors to their fellow Field Support, while being unable to dispatch themselves, with Mamoru more or less knocking himself out of exhaustion or Composing non-stop, and Kouki... well. Outside of the dorms, in a private residence of Etous, in the wing reserved for the researchers, most likely.

That didn’t mean they should be doubting their return. Especially Kensuke; there had to be something wrong with the world if his counterpart wasn’t his usual, cheerful, dumb, _adorable_ -

Ryota forcefully cuts off rest of adjectives.

Anyway, there was something wrong with that, and it meant, he had to fix it. Somehow.

‘Nothing, because it won’t happen.’ he answers to Kensuke’ question, gathering himself from the ground. ‘Just because he’s unaware of it himself doesn’t mean Mamoru’s not smitten with Kouki. He will literally change the world for him, if Kouki as much as mentions wanting that.’

He looks at Kensuke and there’s soft glimmer in his eyes, when he adds:

‘And me and you are not letting Kouki sacrifice himself, right? We’ve been doing pretty good keeping him away from that. Together.’

With it, he turns away and moves to consult something or the other with Ren, air sensor visibly flustered and excited about his presence.

‘Ken-chan? Feeling alright?’ there’s a voice of Soara’s leader next to him, and Kensuke covers his face with a whine. ‘Ken-chan?’

‘Nope. Not fine at all. I’m still in love.’ he leans his head back against the wall with a dull thud. ‘With a snake out of everyone in this shelter... And I thought I was getting over it!’

‘Heeh...’ Sora follows Kensuke’s line of sight, before rapidly backtracking. ‘You mean you aren’t a thing already?!’

‘Shh- what do you mean " _already"_?!’ Kensuke looks at Sora with the same kind of bafflement as Sora stared back at him. Realization hits him, and he slowly shakes his head. ‘Don’t tell me...’

‘Well, what were we supposed to think, when you’re behaving like that!’ Sora returns rapidly, just as flustered.

‘Like wh- no, wait I don’t think I want to know-’

‘Like an old, goddamn married couple, watching over their son having his first love affair!’ Sora says, and Kensuke sputters.

‘A degree of compatibility is required of retainers to maintain peace-’ starts Kensuke, but is interrupted by new voice.

‘To the point of spending molting season together?’ Soushi asks, ‘Sorry, have heard about that from Kouki, when exchanging tips on salt.’

‘That would sound like an extremely poor excuse, if only we were talking about anybody other than you, Sou.’ adds Mori with a sigh, and Ken can only gape.

‘Don’t tell me you all-’ he starts weakly, and rest of Soara seniors shift in place. ‘Alright, that’s it. I’m jumping off a cliff.’

‘You have wings, though.’ consciously points out Soushi. Kensuke snorts.

‘You think they work like a parachute? Automatically opening in the air?’

‘No, I just think it would be a lame way for Bird Spirit User to go.’ casually returns Soushi, and Kensuke groans.

‘Just kill me alre-’

‘With pleasure.’

They all jump up at the venomously sweet voice, and that’s when Kensuke suddenly remembers why Ryota and Ren even talked in the first place.

‘You forgot Serpent Users are sensitive to the air vibrations, didn’t you, Ken.’ Ryota continues, red eyes shallow and zeroed on him. ‘Like, I don’t know, _speech_? And thanks to you, Ren couldn’t keep his focus, so I also became aware of what was going on behind me.’

It’s probably his survival instincts kicking in that he suddenly notices with quite a lot of clarity other aspects of Ryota’s physique, like the slight blush on his cheeks that in any other situation would be a reason for teasing that would make Ryo even cuter, although also a bit scary-

Wait. Ryota was _blushing_.

‘If you’re aware of the situation, it should make everything easier.’ Soushi says, unceremoniously pulling both Kensuke and Sora up by their collars. ‘Sakuraba, you take care of whatever you have going on with Yaegashi, Mori distract Sora with something, please. I need to take care of an extremely flustered air sensor, before his boyfriend will make him combust.’

‘Sou, maybe a little more subtlety would be fitting-’ Morihito starts, eyes darting between all parties involved, even as he accepts Sora (in pouting mode). He is interrupted by Ryota just as unceremoniously grabbing Kensuke’s wrist and pulling him behind himself.

‘Subtlety is useless in this case, unless it’s a brick wall level.’ Soushi consciously points out.

‘Thank you for your input, brick wall, I’m off to figure it out.’ Ryota calls over his shoulder, and it faintly sounds like a threat.

‘Good luck, Ken-chan!’ Nozomu calls cheerfully, even as Ren in his arms squeaks out of embarrassment that floats in the room.

‘Try not to die, after all!’ Sora adds to the wishes, and is promptly whacked on the head by both his boyfriends. ‘What was that for?!’

‘Too much brick walls in one place.’ Mori says with a smile that somehow chills the air, and suddenly, Soushi and Sora feel they’re in one bag. ‘Nozomu, come here for a moment~ I feel we need to have a... small talk.’

*

‘So, that’s what happened. I’m happy for you.’ Issei remarks calmly, while next to him, Tsubasa rolls on the floor laughing. Ryota glares, Kensuke chuckles sheepishly, none of them ready to interrupt the senior making fun of them. ‘Tsubasa-san, I think this is a bit too much of a reaction.’

‘Ah~’ Tsubasa snorts once more, but then gathers himself. ‘Sorry, sorry, it’s not at you specifically. I just remembered something we discussed the other day.’

‘We?’ Ichiru stares at the man suspiciously from the other side of his twin. Tsubasa waves his hand at him.

‘Eichi and Shu would murder me if I brought the full context of situation to you, so for now let’s say we had some quality time to spend together with all of Solids involved-’

‘Do. Not. Ask.’ Ren says sweetly, and Nozomu closes his mouth. Tsubasa throws amused glance at the youngest vampires’ in the room, before continuing.

‘-and ended up talking about Koi’s instinct failing miserably when it got to Growth. He also thought you guys paired up, both sets, actually.’ he finishes, and Kensuke blinks.

‘Does that mean you didn’t think we- ack, Ryo I get it, timeout, timeout!’

Ryota stops pinching his side.

‘We didn’t? I mean, we have Darling and Rikka in the team.’ Tsubasa huffs in amusement. ‘You really think anything comes through to the Composer if it’s not translated in the Song?’

‘Now that you say it.’ both Mori and Soushi chorus, looking at Sora. Sora sticks out his tongue at them.

‘Okay, so, that’s Mamoru, and I totally agree, but, I’m kind of curious about Rikka-san’s comparison?’ Kensuke says, preemptively moving away from Ryota. Who actually seems to be as intrigued.

‘I guess he is on the same page as Kou with being overprotective?’ he guesses, and Tsubasa huffs.

‘As if you two weren’t the same.’ he throws amused look retainer’s way. ‘You know, the „as long as they’re happy, I’m fine just staying their friend and looking after them while maintaining that heart-wrenching balance of the close friends but not really lovers, even though I’m crushing so hard inside” type?’

Kensuke doesn’t look at Ryota. He knows what he would get from seeing his boyfriend-of-five-minutes in state as flustered as he himself was right now. The worst part was.

Tsubasa was on point.

‘Ah.’ Issei blinks. ‘Eichi is the same, actually.’

Tsubasa blinks.

‘Now, that’s a confession I didn’t expect.’ he says honestly. ‘Then, how come you actually have married parents now?’

‘They’re not married yet!’ Ichiru argues, but Issei hums.

‘But it might change once Shu finishes their Duet. Ah, he’s finished it actually, he’s just gathering courage to show it to Eichi, I think.’ he explains, and Ichiru huffs, as older Field Unit members stare at the twins in baffled silence.

‘Think it will work, if we just tell him to man up? Or maybe steal it and get it to Eichi?’

‘Ichiru. Stealing is bad.’ Issei gently reprimands his brother. ‘Plus, I’m sure Eichi would just return it to Shu without looking, since he will wait for Shu to feel comfortable first.’

Ichiru groans.

‘Right. „Man up, Shu” it is.’

‘I’m not sure if us telling him that will not have an opposite effect, though...’ Issei ponders worriedly.

‘I’m sorry to intrude on that war council of yours but- I didn’t make a mistake getting you a Pact of Belonging with the two of them? You’re not being traumatized or anything? Hearing any strange sounds at night?’ Tsubasa asks, prompting few chokes and embarrassed whines. Twins tilt their heads.

‘Strange?’ then, Issei blinks, ‘I think it’s impossible not to hear them?’

Tsubasa looks thoroughly shocked. Scratch that, _everybody_ does. Issei continues.

‘I mean, our Composer is a vampire? There’s no way he wouldn’t be Composing at night? Especially since he’s so busy during the day.’ he hums thoughtfully, crossing his arms. ‘I think I get where Eichi is coming from with this not pushing Shu agenda now... he’s just realized how busy he is, so he wants him to at least take some things slow... but, that’s still not a solution.’

Tsubasa stares, then stares some more. Then shakes his head, standing up.

‘Okay, I think this talk needs to end up here, before we get some completely different ideas regarding things.’ he says decisively. ‘We’re all here to train, despite or maybe specifically because the Growth’s suspension, so unless anything like-’

There’s a loud shrill of alert rune starting in the room, and Tsubasa groans loudly.

‘-exactly that happens.’ he whines. ‘Always with the worst goddamn timing! Do Puppetmasters have a spy or something, among Tsukino?!’

‘Please don’t charm it.’ Ryota, Ren, Mori and Issei say at the same time, and Tsubasa huffs.

‘Alright, alright.’ he answers reaching to his wrist, and tracing finger across the surface of the bracelet he had there. ‘Dai-chan? Have any idea what this is about?’

He seems to be listening closely for a bit, before sighing.

‘Got it~ will be back in five.’ he groans again, letting go of his wrist. ‘For now, no Units were called for the briefing, so everybody in standby are to get back to their dorms.’

‘So much for eventful training session.’ sighs Ryota, but Kensuke hums.

‘It was pretty eventful, I’d say?’ he opposes his counterpart, and Ryota snorts, looking away, but not protesting.

Tsubasa grins.

*

‘Kouki dear? Do you need help?’ his mother peeks her head into the kitchen, and Kouki quickly turns from the stove, turning it off.

‘I’m alright. Did you need something, mother?’

‘Make sure that you are, in fact, alright.’ Etou Ayano answers, and her son blinks. ‘Kou-chan~ mom knows best, you know? Even if I’m the picture of unreliable mother.’

‘You’re not-’ Kouki pauses, trying to come up with something that wouldn’t sound like an actual lie. ‘-you just... take care of things in a different way?’

‘And I still wonder when did you grow into such a fine man.’ she smiles, questioningly motioning to the chairs. Kouki mutely sits opposite her. ‘But, even fine men sometimes struggle.’

‘Did father... said something?’ Kouki asks, and Ayano quirks her eyebrow.

‘Did he need to? After you’ve locked yourself away in the kitchen, giving a scare even to our chef, who taught you the basics himself?’

‘I... I did?’ Kouki looks embarrassed, and his mother squeals. ‘Mother, that’s a serious question!’

‘I know, but you’re adorable. You can’t blame me for wanting to dote on you a bit!’ she pouts. ‘I rarely have a chance to.’

‘And where did this...’ Kouki asks, before sighing.

As always, he failed miserably in one on one with his own mother. Ayano chuckles.

‘”In those moments I wish Ken and Ryo were there” is what is written on your face.’ she gently teases, before softening her voice. ‘Did I guess? You miss them?’

‘It’s not like we’re forbidden from seeing each other.’ Kouki says. ‘It’s just...’

This time, his mother waits until he gathers his thoughts.

‘I... still feel conflicted about this situation.’ he confesses. ‘It’s my fault they’re stuck in the dorm, unable to move out onto Field, or back into Backstage matters like they would in the case of Growth’s disbandment. And Mamoru-’

He stops. For the past few days he desperately tried not to think about clumsy vampire, left without his supervision. Ryota and Ken regularly sent updates through their families, about the meals they forced Mamoru to take break for, the blood amount they managed to sneak into it, everything. But still...

Mamoru shouldn’t be forced to Compose for sake of anybody not himself. While he carried at least part of the burden, taking care of his Composer, the thought wasn’t that invasive, but now, when he was back to being treated like the Etou prince, while vampire and his retainers were stuck in a limbo he indirectly send them into...

‘I just feel guilty.’ he ends softly, then startles, as his mother covers his hands with hers.

‘Do you remember the wisdom of Soul Spirit Users, Kouki?’ she asks gently.

‘When in trouble, listen to your Spirit.’ Kouki recites out of memory, then sighs. ‘But, I know what Aesodius thinks. He’s upset I even can consider leaving Amicus’ side.’

‘Amicus?’

‘That’s Mamoru’s Spirit.’ Kouki says, belatedly realizing his mother also is an earth-dwelling Legendary, and that he could spare them a lot of research, if only he bothered to ask her to question Unimos, her Spirit, about Aesodius’ companion. His mother nods, confirming his suspicions.

‘I would be upset, too.’ she says. ‘Those two tried to always be together, right?’

Aesodius grumbles. She smiles, as if hearing the dragon from within her son.

‘But, you know, I dont think he’d be so vocal about it, if he didn’t think it’s also best for you.’ she says, and Kouki sighs.

‘Even then... I’m an Etou.’ he says with resignation. ‘I don’t choose what’s best to me, but to the domain.’

‘And who said it won’t be one and the same thing?’ Ayano instantly returns, making Kouki stare at her. ‘Didn’t think about it?’

‘No, actually... they’ve said they’ll make it like that. Ah, Ryo, Ken and Mamoru, I mean.’

Ayano smiles widely.

‘See? Once your retainers team up to do something, it usually comes out great.’ she hums. ‘As for Mamoru-chan... you spoke highly of his Songs, didn’t you?’

‘Yes. They’re... nothing like what you can experience in real life. Almost like a journey, but not only to different places, but actually different worlds, as well.’ Kouki smiles, his eyes shining, and Ayano smiles knowingly.

‘I’m pretty sure he will take you to a world you being Etou won’t matter next.’ she says softly, before raising her voice. ‘I want to hear more!’

For now, she knows she won’t calm her son down completely, so at least, she can distract him with the one thing about which he could talk like an actual excited teenager would.

At least love for music, he definitely got from her.

*

‘Darling~ come here confirm something for me?’

‘It sounds really bad when you ask things like this-’ Shiki stops at the sight Tsubasa was showing him. ‘And it is bad. Obviously.’

Tsubasa hums in answer, letting the scorched old Izumi mark change to dust.

‘The Puppetmaster sent after us when we were rescuing kiddos also had one.’ he says slowly. ‘Rikka has noticed it near its’ ear. That makes it third, if other Units didn’t meet them and just overlooked it. Which is possible, since they're not the heads of the actual-’

‘Tsubasa. I know.’ Shiki sighs heavily. ‘You think it has gone past the ocassional exception, and that we should tell Shu.’

‘Well.’ hunter stands up, dusting his hands. ‘It’s only a matter of time before kiddos end up getting Field-ready, and knowing our luck, I’m pretty sure the first mission they get to, they’ll stumble upon a Marionette or a Puppetmaster with this crest on it. Our opponents seem to take pleasure from shoving it in our faces, apparently~’

‘Please don’t charm it.’ Shiki says, already knowing that hunter is very much right. With Growth withdrawing due to inner Etou’s project, the push for all other Units to be ready at any time grew again, and as much as he wanted to keep them safe, even Shu couldn’t ignore the need for Quell to start getting onto the Field, not as just observers, but as an active participants.

If it only didn’t mean confronting his past...

‘I wouldn’t have half as much qualms about it, if he only leaned on his Singers just a bit more.’ Shiki groans, as Rikka and Dai approach him and Tsubasa. His Changed leans on him.

‘If it’s about Shu, he actually does. Not on all of them,’ he relents, once rest of the Unit looks at him in shock, ‘but, Eichi knows the story, he’s been told it by Shu directly. I suspect twins also have their assumptions, since Issei asked me about books on the Great Tragedy recently.’

‘He’s really a bookworm, isn’t he?’ Tsubasa muses. ‘They also seem to realize what’s going on between Shu and Eichi, so I would say they will figure out how to follow on that pretty quickly. So that leaves-’

Shiki grunts when the second man leans his weight on him.

‘-our Darling to prepare his heart to deliver the news, that, now that I think are olds, but whatever.’

‘Easy of you to say.’ Shiki grumbles. ‘You haven’t seen him upon the-’

‘Well, technically speaking, neither did you.’ Rikka consciously points out, but then squeezes his Changer a bit more. ‘It will be fine, Shiki. This time, Shu is not alone.’

Shiki looks away from them.

‘Let me think about the best way to explain it to him.’ he quietly requests, and Tsubasa hums.

‘Just not too long.’ Dai asks quietly. ‘Our foes rarely allow us to have a time out for emotional recovery.’

*

So.

It’s been two weeks, and, frankly saying, Kouki is _tired_.

The researchers are nothing short of reverent towards him, but that doesn’t change a thing; the machine they create is big, lumpy, and looks a bit like a shower cabin with two indents on the wall opposite the entrance. In this shower cabin, he spends better part of his days, pressing his hands into indents and then asking Aesodius to help him survive the constant push he feels when using the machine.

It’s not like it isn’t an improvement - he’s met with previous testers and apparently, rather than feeling resistance, they felt borderline pain when using the device. He’s grateful for lack of it, especially after youthful researcher looking to be maybe Mamoru’s age (well, Mamoru’s body’s age - he doubted the man was above twenty five, definitely not above fifty like his Composer actually was) finally manages to properly calibrate it to fit Kouki’s power.

The technology still opposes Aesodius’ power, or rather, feels like it wants to squash it down, and no matter how much Kouki searches for that channel through which the power is let through to purify, the resistance is there, oppressive, almost laughing in his face.

Because, despite that resistance, the machine manages to purify, and with proper calibration, manages to even purify in a way that is obvious even to the naked eye of a not-sensor.

Kouki had a chance to see the test his father came up with. Etou support specialists created something akin to a weaker version of Black Despair, using darkness as its base, but instead of affecting living beings, it just... was there. Opposing against any other element, but, as excited researcher has said, possibly also opposing the Black Despair itself. Kouki is mildly impressed; the new creation is called Grey Hope, and if it actually manages to block Despair instead of becoming affected by it like it was currently main worry of its creators, it would mean a breakthrough in securing Field until Support equipped for purification would appear. Heck, it could possibly be used as temporary shields against the Despair, to aid creations like Rikka’s barrier, or what Fluna and Seleas did with the northern and southern nests...

For now though, Grey Hope served as training material for purification Units, and was going to serve as test for both the light impulse, and Growth’s Song, in a safe, laboratory environment that will not allow skewing of the results.

The researchers of light impulse seemed to bet it all on the light, and Kouki was growing concerned, in equal parts for the future of Growth and future of the experiment.

What was the point of developing a machine that only people whose number you can count on fingers of both your hands will be able to use?

He shares this doubt with the youngest scientist, but he shrugs helplessly.

‘Our head researcher bets it all on light.’ he answers, confirming Kouki’s worries. ‘This is the element that produces the results that exceed the expectations. Although...’

He hesitates, but Kouki tilts his head encouragingly.

‘I think... we didn’t work with a Legendary, previously.’ he admits, and Kouki blinks. How one could overlook such a difference? ‘And, well, even if we did, Kouki-sama is still the single strongest light user in the shelter, right? So, I suspect, the effect might be amplified not by us calibrating it properly, but by that...’

‘I see.’ Kouki slowly says. ‘So, you suspects that even if other light users took to using it, the effects might be less than what we produce now.’

Researcher braces himself, before nodding.

‘But, on the other hand, it’s possible to get more effects with other elements, provided there’s stronger user.’ Kouki looks at his hands. ‘This... doesn’t it feel like it’s actually related to what this machine was meant to do originally? Use neutral energy and change it into purification one. If the efficacy is affected by the power of the user, perhaps amount of neutral energy, if enlarged, would also manage to change the result.’

‘Perhaps, but... then it’s counterproductive. It’s more useful to find someone who will be able to accept neutral energy and change it into light, then shape it to use...’ the researcher blinks. ‘That’s actually... a course we didn’t take... change the affinity in the machine and then amplify that changed affinity energy... it will be additional step to make, but if this works...’

Kouki really feels sorry for what he has to say next.

‘Even if you present it to the main researcher, you most likely won’t get permission to change it up. Test is next week, isn’t it?’ he asks, and researcher deflates, but then shakes his head with a smile.

‘It’s still an idea for the future! With that, we would also stop relying on Kouki-sama, so that would mean, you wouldn’t have to choose between us and your Unit, right?’

‘What, you were aware...’ Kouki feels a bit sheepish.

‘I listened to the recordings from the Field. Not to take away from their effectiveness, I can't really speak about that, but they’re simply pleasant to hear.’ admits the man, and Kouki smiles. ‘I do feel a bit sorry for putting a completely new technology against it, though. The Songs are rather old technique, aren’t they...’

Kouki laughs.

‘They’re known from ancient times, but you shouldn’t worry.’ he assures the researcher, feeling like something settles in him as well, with that reassurance. ‘The Song the light impulse will go against is just as new as the technology it rivals. Younger, actually.’

He smiles.

‘But already promising...’

*

The anxiety returns with doubled power on the actual day of the test, because head researcher looks downright _smug_.

‘We made the final calibration just this morning.’ he informs both Etous. Kouki’s father hums, before suddenly turning to the youngest researcher.

‘Did you even sleep?’

‘Eh? Ah, y-yes! I think!’

‘You think?’ Etou’s head quirks his eyebrow. ‘Well, no matter, since I see the other side is in no better shape.’

‘Hm?’ Mamoru looks dazed. ‘Ah, that’s probably because I didn’t really sleep, but that's okay~’

‘We’re sorry, Kou.’ at the same time say Kensuke and Ryota. Kouki just shakes his head, feeling the irrational wave of fondness wash over him.

Seriously. Only those three.

He’s really missed being able to see all of them, feel this calm presence of connection he couldn’t even put into words....

 _„You just missed all of them, Light Child.”_ scolds Aesodius, and Kouki nods his head in a silent agreement.

He did.

‘Well, then, how will we carry this out?’ wonders Etou, looking at the room where the light impulse was being installed among the sea of Grey Hope. ‘Shall we toss the coin with what will go first? How do you feel, Kouki?’

 _„Choose the jail.”_ dryly advises Aesodius from inside, and Kouki blinks.

Jail?

_„It binds our power to do its bidding. What else it can be? ”_

_„Then, the Songs are?”_

_„Do you really need to ask?”_

No, Kouki realizes, he doesn’t.

‘Let’s start with light impulse.’ he says. ‘I know I can give it my all to the Song either way.’

_„And I’m not really sure about this one.”_

‘I hoped you’d say that!’ head researcher sounds elated, and Ryota scowls, but Kensuke preemptively catches his hand.

Wait a moment, Ryota allows it?

‘There were some... developments that might have not made it into the reports?’ Mamoru says, and Kouki turns surprised eyes at him. ‘You looked ready to ask.’

‘And you know, because...?’ Kouki asks, while his retainers change colors, and Mamoru smiles a smile he has on every time he talks about music. ‘Ah, I see.’

‘How?!’ Mamoru whines, and Kouki chuckles.

‘I kind of know you. You know?’ he says, tilting his head, before bracing himself. ‘Doctor, let’s start. I want to decide on everything today.’

‘Of course, of course~ this way, Kouki-sama.’

Close proximity made him reattuned to his retainers, so he can feel the distrust and borderline disgust they felt for the man. He suspected the emotions wouldn’t be half as strong if he didn’t admit to not wanting to leave Growth...

 _„They would be directed at you, as hurt from betrayal, because they would not know the real you.”_ Aesodius is quick to reprimand him for his irrational doubt. _„Now, focus, Child of Light. I also don’t like this machine, just like the Great Beasts’ vessels don’t.”_

Against his better judgement, Kouki smiles. His dragon became more outspoken since they’ve met Mamoru, but under all the wisdom he bestowed upon Kouki, his character also showed, that of a prideful, perfectionist being akin to what Ryota was, but also a free spirit, allowing only responsibilities he choose himself to bind him, a bit like Kensuke.

Perhaps that was why he got along so well with his retainers...

 _„No, Child of Light. Your connections are yours only.”_ Aesodius catches on to his musings, even as Kouki presses his hands into indents he grew tired of. _„Just like your feelings for Amicus' vessel are yours, and not affected by our friendship with them.”_

Kouki’s smile thins out.

Will he still be friends with all of them after today-

 _„You dare doubt the creation of the Friend?”_ dragon huffs, but before Kouki has time to properly consider the question, researchers trigger light impulse.

The push is nothing like it was before, and Kouki has to brace himself.

The machine felt as if it was trying to suck all of his light out of him by tugging it out while pushing Kouki back. He still doesn’t feel pain, but... yes, he can understand why somebody would consider this discomfort borderline painful.

It felt as if something was trying to split you into two.

Kouki can’t wait until it finishes, and by the time it does, he almost stumbles out of the cabin, only the fact that Ryota and Kensuke moved just to its’ doors and were waiting to catch him preventing his fall.

‘Kou!’

‘I’m... fine.’ he forces through his mouth, fully aware that neither of them will believe him. He exhales. ‘Almost.’

‘Almost, huh...’ mutters Kensuke, Ryota glaring at the delighted researcher, sharing the data of the results with anybody who wanted to listen to him.

‘The output was hundred and twenty percent of what we expected! This kind of results we didn’t get even in the tests!’

Kouki mutely requests Kensuke to help him come and look at the room they were supposed to purify.

Among the clouds of Grey Hope, the square of almost shining white proudly presented itself in a place researchers pointed the impulse. Kouki feels a pit of anxiety in the bottom of his stomach, but at the same time...

‘It’s not something you’d be able to manage on your own, right, Kouki-sama?’ lead researcher asks, and there’s pride in his voice. ‘We develop technology specifically to allow out Field operatives break the limits of their possibilities-’

‘By almost making them faint?’ Ryota interrupts dryly, and Kouki wakes from his stupor. Before the damage happens...

‘Ryo, it’s fine.’ he calls, and retainer huffs softly, but backs away to his side.

He probably doesn’t even know how much does that mean to Kouki, huh.

‘It’s true I wouldn’t be able to do it myself. But, nobody in their sane mind will dispatch alone, either.’ Kouki says, stopping researcher’s glory song. ‘Now, that is still an amazing result. Next, let’s compare the Song.’

It wasn’t the urge to prove the researcher wrong, not entirely. The sensation of being separated from his power the machine funded him made him realize just how much more accommodating Mamoru’s works were for him.

After feeling like a disposable packet to the power within him, he wanted to feel like he _belonged_. With Growth, this feeling was guaranteed, and he feels surge of unrest.

_He doesn’t want to lose it._

‘Kou-kun? Are you sure-’ Mamoru still comes forward, to confirm, or maybe to convince him to slow down...

‘Mamoru.’ he interrupts, touching vampire’s cheek. ‘I’m fine, I want to start as soon as possible, in fact.’

He feels Aesodius stir, his own restlessness affecting the Immortal’s discomfort with the research... Mamoru’s eyes flash, before he nods. Kouki smiles tiredly.

‘Ryo, Ken, let’s go with fourth level.’

‘Roger that.’ his retainers decide against fighting him, which is kind of symbolic as well. Discomfort at losing Kouki was greater than discomfort at seeing him as dishelved as he felt, it seemed...

They set in a formation, and Kouki tries to push the thoughts of ‘it might be the last time’ out of his head as he takes a breath, trying to remember the words, the melody, the tempo-

_‘Arcana. Aurora. Amicus Aeternitas.’_

Aesodius’ power soars from within him at the first word of the Song, and suddenly, Kouki doesn’t exist.

_‘Crescunt. Animus. Caritas Centuria.’_

There’s only light, immortal, everlasting, all powerful, purifying, but he doesn’t feel any strain, even as his voice joins other three, words, sounds flowing, stringing them along, joining them together.

To the light joins the shadow, and to the ground and water, air and thunder.

Then, the tempo builds up, quicker and quicker, then they finally _move_.

Suddenly, Kouki becomes aware of what is happening, where he is and how he moves, but it all is just a knowledge, something he has, but doesn’t need to force himself to use. It flows from him naturally, melts together with knowledge of movement that Ryo has, that Ken has, that Amicus has-

 _Amicus_?

He looks towards the last member of Growth and sees it, sees the shadow wings, flapping in time with the melody, and eyes, darker than Mamoru’s, older, and just as kind, looking at them, watching over them, protecting them from any discomfort pushing and controlling this much power with just your voice and dance can cause-

They freeze as the chant repeats, then they add another layer to it, the story of a meeting that started the motion, that caused tremble of the heart, that awoke the one waiting in the shadows.

‘Ultima, so that you’re not alone-’

He can feel Kensuke and Ryota’s powers, molding together to form a firm support and protection, and he leans on the oath’s words gratefully, letting the discomfort be washed away by the Song.

He's missed it so much.

Kouki is faintly aware there are lines in that Song that shouldn’t be possible for the state of their relationships...

_„There might have been... some upgrades.”_

He almost, almost laughs at the thought that echoes Mamoru's earlier statement, that is now translated in the Song, much clearer answer to his musings, but he needs to focus, and soon afterwards, he feels the pang of guilt.

He should’ve known about those changes. They were his retainers, and yet, he wasn’t there...

_„But you are now.”_

The feelings that present in the Song are always an union of Singers, and Kouki feels, through the wave of reassurance washing over him, that this sentiment, he shared with his Unitmates. He smiles.

_„Yeah. I’m here.”_

It doesn’t matter if he Sings solo, choruses his lines or sings with only one of the other Singers. If it was with Growth, he was never alone, and always whole.

And apparently, the all powerful, too.

‘Ultima, even if we become ash, as long as we wish for it, we’ll meet again.’

He asks, and Aesodius readily responds, even as Kouki raises his hand and the Song comes to the end. Wave of light washes over the field.

And Growth breaks out of the finishing poses to lurch for him, Mamoru catching him before he can crumble to the ground, dark wings fluttering anxiously.

‘That’s why I’ve said-’

Kouki chuckles, interrupting the vampire, even as he regains his footing.

‘Mamoru, your wings.’ he points out. Vampire tries to look behind his shoulder, and when it fails, turns around, prompting amused snort from the rest of the Unit at the parody of puppy chasing its tail. He then turns back to them, sheepish, unused appendages disappearing. Kouki reassures, ‘I’m fine, thank you.’

He actually felt better than fine. Although his legs were giving out from underneath him, he felt complete, whole, and _warm_. He smiles at his retainers, and Ryota and Kensuke blush simultaneously, as if they too remembered what was said during the Song. Kouki simply chuckles.

‘I’m rooting for you.’

His retainers look at him, then at each other, then with identical glints in their eyes back at him.

‘Isn’t that our line now?’

Kouki shakes his head. Seriously, only those two...

He’s glad it’s them.

‘Kouki.’ his father’s voice speaks up, and Etou senior, together with researchers, approaches him. ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m fine.’ Kouki confirms, before remembering why they Sung in the first place and looking around. ‘Ah.’

‘Indeed.’ Etou senior says with a hint of amusement.

The room was clear of any trace of Grey Hope, as if it never even existed. The square created by light impulse was still somewhat visible, but much paler, compared to its previous surroundings. The floor was shining faintly, as if somebody spread glitter all over it.

Kouki abruptly turns to Mamoru.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks worriedly. The last time he went overboard like that, he actually ended up accidentally burning Roa-san’s partner, only vampire’s status as the High Elemental preventing too much damage. Mamoru didn’t have this kind of...

He didn’t, but he had a protection of the derivative element and Song, and so, he only blinks, before ‘oh’ing softly and then smiling, spreading his arms apart.

‘Com-pletely fine, Kou-kun! I should be the one asking you that, in fact!’ he looks back at his Singer. ‘It felt as if you... were... um... oversharing? At the start?’

Kouki blinks.

‘Is that how it looked to you?’ he asks carefully, and Mamoru nods. ‘Interesting...’

‘Kouki.’ his father calls him back, and Kouki turns to him. ‘I leave the judgement to you, but I want to hear proper reason.’

Kouki nods, before looking at the field again.

His judgement couldn’t be lined with his personal opinions, that’s the number one rule of Etous, but...

Even when he managed to consciously remove his bias in favor of Growth, force himself to forget sensation of being split in half and sensation of being put together by the three precious people in his life...

Kouki cannot help but smile.

_„You were right, Aesodius. I should have never doubted Mamoru’s Song. All three of them did exactly what they promised.”_

He turns back, hearing faint but satisfied grunt of his Soul Spirit.

‘Yamadai-san.’ he calls and head researchers straightens, glint of elation entering his eye. ‘Continue the research, but try adjustments I’ve discussed with Ota-san. I cannot leave Field for technique like that, but if theory the two of us developed is true, I won’t even be needed for it, actually.’

Researcher blinks, as if he didn’t expected for his invention to be rejected. Etou senior hums.

‘Reason?’ he asks, and Kouki nods back.

‘Light impulse actually doesn’t allow the user to control the field it works on, or its intensity. It’s one of the reasons for the discomfort its users felt.’ he says. ‘It’s also why, in its’ current form, it fails in comparison to the Song, that spreads and purifies evenly.’

‘Singers cannot control it, either.’ his father says, and Kouki tilts his head.

‘The Unit ones.’ he turns to his team. ‘Ken, think your Solo can go?’

‘Eh? Ah?! Wait, since when did you know we’re... Ryo! You've reported?!’ his retainer flails a bit, and his partner snickers softly. Kouki looks at Mamoru, who blinks.

‘As long as Ken-kun feels comfortable, he can go.’ he smiles. ‘Solos are bridges, but they are only loosely connected with the Composer. Once the Singer takes hold of it for the first time, it’s as good as theirs.’

Kouki nods, before turning back.

‘And I wouldn’t worry about me not having control of my Songs.’ he raises his palm, to look at the wisteria mark on it. ‘Since I have control over the Composer...’

‘That you don’t seem to be too pleased with?’ his father says inquiringly.

‘But I am... ’ Mamoru stands to full attention after realizing he’s said it out louder than he intended, face rapidly becoming red. ‘Sir!’

Ryota and Kensuke snicker like one at this, trying and failing miserably to hide it. Kouki blinks at them confused, Mamoru sweats profusely.

Etou senior chuckles, as well, before humming contemplatively.

‘What are the enhancements you’ve discussed with Ota-san, Kouki?’

‘Adding additional system to change affinity of the impulse before it’s released. This way, it would be able to work on neutral energy, and get it from multiple sources, too.’ Kouki explains. ‘It demands more adjustments, but at least users won’t feel like they were... well, won’t feel uncomfortable.’

His father turns to the researchers.

‘Is that possible?’

Head researcher frowns, but Ota speaks up.

‘I actually ran a simulation on the topic, sir. We have technology supporting users in changing their affinities, if we work with it, adding it to the impulse should not be impossible.’ he says, nervously looking at handwritten data.

Head researcher frowns more.

‘Why is that the first time I hear about that?’ he asks, and Ota stutters for a bit.

‘I- I tried to bring it up, but you were preoccupied with preparations for that exam-’

‘That’s not an excuse!’ starts Yamadai, but Etou senior intrudes.

‘Does that mean you have the theory figured out?’ he asks, and Ota nods. ‘That means the research won’t be completely back to square one?’

‘At this point it’s impossible, sir. We have all the testing we’ve done, and the Yamadai Theory to lean on, so...’ Ota shifts, but it seems the mention of his discovery still serving as a base to the technology satisfies head researcher’s pride.

‘And that means we can continue it without actually disbanding Growth.’ Etou senior nods, before looking at Kouki with amusement mixed with pride. ‘Your win, son.’

‘Not mine, all of the Field’s.’ Kouki manages to say, before getting glomped by Ken.

He looks at Ryota, but his other retainer looks just as amused as his father is. Then, his eyes naturally shift to Mamoru’s face and...

Well, he definitely knows Mamoru is happy, right now.

*

‘And with that result, I’d like to withdraw the request for Growth’s suspension.’ Kouki finishes, his Unit grinning behind him. Etou’s heir then adds, sheepish. ‘I’m sorry for worrying you, sir.’

Tsukino Mikoto just sighs.

‘I should have known the risks of creating Units with heirs in them by now, all of Tsukiuta is like that.’ he says, reaching into the drawer. ‘I guess as long as you can still work with us, nothing happened, but...’

‘I know. I’ll start on countermeasures to properly secure Growth smooth activity independent of my duties.’ Kouki assures, before grunting, as Kensuke throws an arm over his shoulder.

‘You don’t understand, if you say only you will take care of it. _We_ will work together, right?’ Kensuke grins at him, pointing at the rest of Growth. Mamoru nods his head vigorously, and Ryota huffs.

‘It didn’t need clearance, Ken. Retainers go where their master goes.’ he then quickly looks at Kouki. ‘And friends do what makes their friends happy.’

‘Thank you, Ken, Ryo. Mamoru, too.’ Kouki turns back to Tsukino. ‘So, as you can see, we’re on one page again. I’m still sorry for the scare.’

‘It wasn’t your responsibility, so I think you have no reason to apologise.’ Tsukino muses. Taking out the official paper requesting for Growth’s suspension, he crosses it out, adding a quick note of „resolved”. ‘Still, I appreciate the sentiment. Can I still count on you managing the cooperation between Tsukino and Etou’s Backstage?’

‘Yes! We will be glad to work together.’ and Kouki seems to be sincerely happy that Mikoto mentions the cooperation.

General smiles; youth’s... such a beautiful thing. He sends Growth away shortly after, letting them prepare for their training session, and his assistants come into the room.

‘Can I presume I still have an Unit to...’ Mochizuki also smiles at general’s nod. ‘I’m glad. With all the fuss surrounding Quell, I was afraid they will not let us have Growth back.’

Everybody shares his sentiment, and general sighs again.

‘Now, I really hope that’s the last time anybody plans to steal somebody from my Field Units again.’ he says dryly.

*

As it turns out just few weeks later, he’s _so_ charmed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing but "Shun ex machina for SOARA" written as notes for the next chapter, so in case you were wondering, it will be wild. I think. Also, this chapter was not supposed to be 8k long?  
> (And Ayano, Kouki's mother's Spirit's name comes actually from one of my OC stories, with a similiar concept to that of Soul Spirits, so. I just think it's a cool name, lol)  
> Thanks for reading!


	17. Mikazuki Fantasia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like with the first kidnapping part in Quell-oriented chapters, we actually entered an "everybody wants to abduct somebody from Field Forces" arc, lol.  
> Not that it's a novelty, in this case...  
> Anyway, enjoy!

Sora opens his eyes with a groan - his head was _killing_ him.

Attempting to - slowly - sit up, he tried to figure out what happened. None of his surroundings looked familiar; in fact, the dark room with no windows and lack of flow of the wind, and _something_ pressing on his inner sense of Composer, muffling it like he did most of his middle and high school days, didn’t promise anything good.

Sora tries to recall the circumstances in which he lost consciousness. He definitely wasn’t knocked out mid-Composing, he stumbled into slight writing block, and since Mori was busy with his family matters, he choose to solve it by going out for a walk. Soushi asked him to pick something from the grocery, and he choose to go to the more faraway one, then got distracted by the super intelligent-looking cat at the stairs of some abandoned temple at the outskirts of the shelter...

Still.

All of that happened in the open, in a place with both natural light and air flowing freely. Something that very much were not the case for Sora’s current surroundings.

Which only meant one thing.

Sora falls back onto bedding under him with a loud groan.

‘Not _again_!’

*

‘General? I’m sorry for interruption, but did you perhaps see Sora?’

Mikoto looks at the newcomer, as do any other leader in the room.

‘I didn’t. I actually hoped you might explain his absence on leader’s meeting, Kagurazaka-kun.’ he says, and Soushi sighs a deep, heavy sigh. Something unpleasant settles in the pit of General’s stomach. ‘Don’t tell me...’

‘We’re looking for him as we speak.’ Soushi reports. ‘But... this pattern... it’s too goddamn familiar. I’ve let my guard too much.’

He mutters the last part more to himself than to the others, fist on the doorframe.

‘It’s not entirely your fault.’ Shu speaks up. ‘I also don’t... didn’t expect that anybody would raise a hand at a part of a Field Unit, either.’

Shiki sighs heavily, Kouki stiffens.

‘Is this about what I think it is.’ High asks, and Shu hums.

‘Let’s not rush to the conclusions.’ he says slowly. ‘I’ll ask my Group members to be on a lookout.’

‘I can ask the same of the shelter patrols from Etous.’ Kouki adds, throwing a sympathetic look Soushi’s way. ‘Maybe Sora just got distracted by the idea for melody he saw, and then got lost.’

‘This sounds weirdly specific and terribly familiar.’ Soushi answers with a groan. Shu chuckles, sheepish, Shiki hums, and Soushi stares at the two vampires. ‘Don’t tell me you-’

‘We don’t.’ Solids’ leader protests, but Quell’s adds:

‘Is what we’d like you to believe, but. I did scare Eichi once by going out for a walk and not returning until the next day.’ he admits. ‘And Rikka complains about Shiki shutting him out all the time, though he usually knows their Composer stays in his room by then.’

‘I guess seeing world in a different way does make you want to explore it.’ Kouki smiles, before humming. ‘I’ll ask Mamoru for the routes he usually takes, too, most of them lead through secluded spaces of the shelter, so. If Sora’s just lost, they’re the most likely places he would be in.’

‘Please, and thank you.’ Soushi’s shoulders sag. ‘Just when Mori is out, too...’

Hajime blinks.

‘Arihara, too?’ he asks, and Soushi nods. Six Gravity’s leader frowns. ‘Haru was urgently called back, as well...’

‘Kurisu mentioned something was going on, too. Ai also worried about Wakaba recently, not to mention, Tsubaki-chan had to regularly visit her household to weed out leftovers of the Izushimo conspiracy...’ Yuki says, and Shun just hums in agreement.

‘I don’t like it.’ at the same time say everyone else in the room, and General Tsukino hides face in his hands.

‘Just when will we be allowed to work on the Field in peace?’ he asks, muffled. ‘Dislocation at Tunnel transportation of the Special Unit from another organization - result is a request to fill in for them, taking one of our own Units out of the roster. The Etou issue; Quell’s issue; another idiot trying to breach western nest’s barrier, getting burned by lilies, then accusing Rikka of attacking him personally. Can somebody confirm again, who our real foe is in here?’

‘I’ve been asking that question for- ack, Shu.’ Shiki grunts, as his little brother figure shoves him slightly. Shu smiles, before turning to the General.

‘It’s envy and egotism, sir.’ he answers. ‘Forty years ago, it was the exact same foe, on both sides.’

‘Unfortunately, we don’t have antidote for that.’ dryly speaks Hajime, and Shu nods.

‘No. But Black Despair feeds on unhealthy emotions, so. If we want to push back against it, we need to push back against those emotions as well.’

‘I hope you will apply it yourself, when the time comes.’ Shiki mutters softly, before raising his voice. ‘Let’s take it one step at a time. For now, we know Oohara won’t be here at the meeting, we probably also should help in the search.’

He huffs.

‘At this point I wonder if establishing a search network within shelters won’t be a good idea.’ he muses. ‘Since we cannot bind everyone with Guardian Pacts, and even those aren’t invincible. Or at least, deduct those most likely to be targeted next, and implement security to them.’

‘I’d say from Field Battle and Support, Composers are the most attractive targets. Mamoru-kun thankfully has the Wisteria Agreement on his side.’ Shu muses, and Kouki shifts. ‘Even if imperfect, it already uses Etou’s name to protect him, so at least here, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about. I doubt anybody will target me or Shiki, so out of awakened Composers, that leaves only Sora... well, that’s a talk for after we find him, though.’

‘Hopefully he just got lost in his own world~’ Shun says with a small smile, and suddenly, Shu realizes Procellarum’s leader was very carefully observing him during his count out of the Composers.

Well, he _was_ their leader. He should know his own people’s traits...

‘I really hope it’s the case, too.’ Soushi says. ‘Though it will be a ridiculous resolution.’

Kouki huffs a soft laugh.

‘Indeed, putting half of the shelter at full attention because you got lost in thought sounds more amusing than it is in reality.’ he says, and General, as well as the rest of the leaders, smile faintly. ‘Although I’m sure we’d all love for it to end that way. Definitely Mamoru, since at least he’d have someone who did the same thing as himself.’

‘Sounds very Fujimura-like.’ Shiki comments. ‘Kagurazaka, I know you’d probably love nothing but to return to the Oohara hunt, but since your leader is absent, and it’s a general leader’s meeting, think you can act as second-in-command for Soara? The quicker we finish here, the quicker we can help with the search.’

*

It takes half an hour for his head to stop killing him enough for Sora to slowly get up, and start exploring his immediate surroundings. The room is small, and dark, and stuffy, but it’s dry and warm. After his eyes start working normally, he notices small holes in the ceiling, through which faint light filtered through, letting him see anything. The floor and walls seem to be made with wood, and, sans the bedding he woke up on, and two steps leading to the massive - locked, he checked - doors, there was only small part of the room separated from the main part for minimum of privacy during the hygiene care.

Sora tries not to panic.

Okay, so he was back to being kidnapped, alright. It wasn’t the first time, probably won’t be the last (although he seriously hoped it would). And that means, he needs to go through the List of Stuff to Do in Case I Get Kidnapped Again, that rested in his desk drawer in his room in the house.

Why the heck he didn’t take it with himself to the dorms?!

Alright, no time pondering on it now. Step one he did, assessing his condition, and step two, his surroundings, too. So far, no possible ways of escape were visible, but he was not in the immediate danger - his cell definitely was arranged in a way to be inhabitable, barely, but it was, and that meant, whoever his kidnapper was, he wanted Sora alive. Which probably meant that somebody was interested in his Composer talent.

Again.

Sora grumbles to himself.

Why it was always like that? Once something starts going smoothly, another thing messes up? Or, in this case, comes back, like a boomerang, to haunt him. Ever since Mori officially took him under his protection...

He straightens abruptly.

Mori wasn’t at the dorms at the time of his abduction, meaning he will get the info with delay. It was a bit too early for point four, he still didn’t get to the point three, figure out who the kidnapper is, but, he might as well do it, while he waits for the first contact.

So, point four, figure out kidnapper’s intentions. And maybe five, figure out any possible circumstances that might be useful in any way.

He’s a Composer, that’s one, even among vampires, they’re like, rare, so that’s probably his advantage. Two, status as a human. Paradoxically, but well. Vampires, especially High ones, usually looked down upon humans, as a lesser race - with exceptions, obviously, Sora’s interacted mostly with those exceptional individuals, actually. Anyway, that meant, as long as they underestimate him, he will have an element of surprise up his sleeve, he was no longer that easily manhandled kid you could drug as you please...

Although apparently you could still kidnap him. Sora frowns.

They really need to come up with something like a reverse Guardian Pact, or maybe something like Mamo-chan had with Kou-kun...

Okay, that’s food for thought for later, now back to the main issue.

Sora crosses his arms and hums.

Provided Mori’s family isn’t involved in his abduction - he huffs with amusement at the thought; the last Song they Sung together yesterday, and Mori’s thoughts and emotions were nothing but support and adoration, like usual - the kidnapper choose a moment his vampire boyfriend will be away, meaning he didn’t want Mori to interrupt, meaning he was acting against Arihara family.

Did he know anything about forces like that?

Sora groans.

It didn’t shorten the list of suspects, there were quite a number of families and clans jealous about level of trust Ariharas had despite being from the Loser group. So, not that. What else...

Actually, maybe it did help... If he mixed his status of a Composer and somebody against Ariharas. That would mean, vampires that were kidnapping him before Ariharas did, or vampires that kidnapped him _together with_ Ariharas. Mori worked to confuse everyone about his identity after he and Sou got Sora out of the lab, but it took some time for the family to adapt to the ideas of their heir. The period between this and that, they no doubt worked with other researchers on the data they took from Sora being with them...

Sora scowls.

Those memories were foggy, and to keep Mori clean and away from any suspicions of illegal human experimentation, they never really talked about that time. Honestly, until now, he also wasn’t really interested with it, he tried to put any kidnapping event beyond himself as soon as possible, usually, to taste the youth.

No, he won’t blame it on youth, no way.

Sora focuses once more. Until he gets in contact with the kidnappers, all he can do is speculate, but that means, if he can narrow the options down, he can also work out plans of action for all of them, so. For now, he needs to make sure he’s capable of surviving, next, that he’s conscious enough to spot and develop possible plan of escape, and third, that if the escape on his own is impossible, he makes it easier for the guys to find him.

Not that he’s sure he wants to see Soushi and Mori coming into contact with his kidnappers.

Or maybe he does?

*

‘Haru, welcome back.’

Yayoi Haru closes the door behind himself, before blinking at his leader greeting him from the seat in the living room.

‘I’m back, Hajime.’ he still answers, approaching the hunter. ‘That’s unusual; you don’t stay in the living much.’

‘It’s also my living, though.’ Hajime dryly remarks, just as Aoi exits the kitchen.

‘Ah, Haru-san, welcome back; do you want to eat or drink something?’ he asks, and Haru smiles pleasantly.

‘A tea if I may.’ he sighs. ‘Those meetings are provided with, well. You know.’

‘We did check where they get that blood from, right?’ Aoi confirms, setting a cup in front of Hajime, as Haru nods. ‘Then, there’s nothing bad with taking advantage of it. Ah, I’ll bring yours in a moment.’

With that, he quickly withdraws to the kitchen, and Haru sighs with a smile.

‘I know we agreed that bribing supply spots to deliver freshly donated blood to High makes less harm than if there was illegal direct drafts being made, but I’m still not entirely fine with it.’ he mutters, and Hajime huffs.

‘Sorry, can’t help with that. Since technically speaking, they don’t break any rules, my interference would mean hunters overstepping.’ Hajime answers, picking his cup. ‘Though I’m frustrated about it as well.’

‘I know. I’ll manage.’ Haru smile is placating, before he's nodding his thanks to Aoi, who brought another cup out. Once the younger hunter disappears back in the kitchen, Haru nudges his leader. ‘So? What it is about?’

‘Does it have to be?’

‘You waiting for me to come back? No, but it usually is.’ Haru returns easily enough. ‘So?’

‘Was Arihara on that meeting you attended?’ Hajime asks, relenting. The small banter was just a means of helping Haru relax, anyway.

His vice blinks.

‘Indeed, they were, both the senior and the heir. Morihito-kun seemed to be worried after that meeting, though, and rushed to go back, so we didn’t have chance to- Hajime?’ he asks, in the face of gradually more grim leader.

‘What did you talk about on that meeting? If Arihara reacted that way, it’s probably connected with the situation we have on our hands right now.’

‘Situation?’ Haru repeats slowly, as his eyes sharpen. That much for relaxation...

‘Soara’s Composer is missing.’

Haru blinks, before carefully setting his cup down.

‘That’s what they meant.’ he almost growls, and there’s nothing from his usual pleasant and slightly teasing tone. ‘Those bastards want to get us into another illegal research mess.’

‘Haru. You did not answer my question.’ Hajime says slowly, and his vice looks at him, before nodding.

‘The talk was about progress of vampire race as a whole. It might be better to get everyone in the Unit gathered before I get into details, though. I’ll call Procella, too, Shimotsukis didn’t have the representative on that meeting, since well, they were neutral family at the time.’ he says, standing up. ‘Let me just tell you that - if Loser’s side did what I suspect they did, all of us will be angry, but Arihara will be _furious_.’

*

He knew he should have destroyed the data.

He knew he should have caused an accident that would make all of their progress negligible.

He knew he should get rid of any speck of information regarding Sora’s talent, but.

But-

The Arihara blood got the better of him. The idea of destroying the wisdom, the developments created through research with Sora in their lab felt like a loss, and Mori made excuses. Not to do this, because it won’t hurt anybody. Not to do this, because it will be as if he was trying to erase Sora’s suffering he had to endure as a kid. Not to do this, because what if it will be needed one day...

Of course, he made sure they would be shelved, archived without a chance for continuation, but. There was no way it would be enough, right? Somehow, things he did almost never seemed to be enough, not when they regarded Sora. Although that shouldn’t be a surprise, his boyfriend was such an amazing being...

‘...rry.’

A punch to his gut brings him back from the loop he seemed to throw himself into at the news that Sora, his boyfriend, his _Composer_ , research subject HC01, went missing.

‘Seriously, sorry, but it didn’t seem you were registering anything I’ve said.’ Soushi says, his voice tense with concern, and Mori feels his guilt triple - Sou was probably already worried for Sora, and now-

‘Oh, no, no way, you’re not going back there. Ren!’

‘S-Sou-nii, that’s not the best-’

‘I take full responsibility for that, now get Mori into speaking state. Please.’

‘S-Sou, it’s fine.’ Mori forcefully exhales. 'You’ll get Ren in trouble if you ask him to extend his powers onto a High.’

‘Well, and what else can I do, if that High went into a goddamn panic attack before explaining anything?!’ Soushi raises his voice slightly, and that’s literally the only signal of the toll the situation took on him. Mori still realizes hunter is right - he needs to get a grip on himself for his boyfriend, _both_ of them, actually.

‘Punch that High. Though, you have no trouble with that.’ he answers, massaging his abdomen. ‘Did I hyperventilate or something, that you choose stomach?’

‘You looked ready to.’ Soushi answers, and his tone goes back to normal. Good, it seemed that with Morihito regaining control, hunter also calmed down. ‘Now, what even brought this on? Though I’m scared to ask, at this point.’

‘Remember the circumstances under which we’ve first met?’ Mori asks, accepting the hand hunter extended to pull him up from his crouched over position - Soushi really didn’t hold his punches back. ‘I’m almost sure Sora’s disappearance is related to it.’

Soushi squeezed his hand, hard.

‘Don’t tell me...’ he starts, but Mori shakes his head.

‘I’ve made sure we won’t be involved into it. Without my knowledge, nobody in the family would be able to find those files.’ he says. ‘The problem is, it was a joint project. Such a careless mistake-’

‘Beating yourself up about the past isn’t going to change the present, Mori.’ Soushi says tensely, but before he’s able to continue, Nozomu interrupts senior’s talk.

‘What is this about? Senpai, you know where Sora is?’

‘Not that much, but. I have a suspicions, and a lot of clues to support them.’ Mori says, before hesitating and turning to Soushi. ‘Did you-’

‘Nobody but the three of us know about this.’ Soushi instantly replies. ‘Well, but it seems it didn’t end up as well as we hoped, so we might as well share it with Ren and Nozomu.’

‘Okay... okay.’ Mori takes a deep breath, and Ren shifts unsuredly.

‘Should I... make something to drink?’ he asks carefully, and his seniors smile at him tiredly.

‘It’s not really a pleasant chat over tea topic... plus, I’m sure Yayoi-san has realized the same thing I did.’ Mori says slowly. ‘And if that’s the case, we’ll be summoned to an urgent meeting with General very soon. It would be a waste of your effort, Ren.’

‘Alright, so, whatever it is, you can spill now, right?’ Nozomu asks, and Ren sighs.

‘Nozomu...’

‘Let’s sit down first.’ Soushi interrupts him. ‘Mori no doubt ran all the way here, after figuring this stuff out.’

That prompts a weak smile out of the High at his side.

‘Only the part I didn’t travel by the Tunnel.’ he says, and Soushi snorts pointedly.

This afternoon, Ren hears about the continuation of the kidnappings that happened only after he moved out of Soushi’s neighborhood. About drugs used on a child, and two determined youths, one vampire, the other a hunter, forging a very fragile alliance, all to get a Composer out of the facility seeking a way of using his talent, multiplying it, abusing him as a result. Of the Song, or rather, just a phrase, scribbled on a loose piece of paper, linking together the Muse and Composer, giving the former a taste of strong, borderline irrational connection to another living being.

‘This part, I didn’t know either.’ Soushi remarks, as Ren and Nozomu just stare at their seniors with open mouths. Mori smiles wryly, faint blush on his cheeks.

‘I’m... I might be still unconsciously embarrassed about it, honestly.’ he admits. ‘It was the first time I felt like that about anyone, really.’

‘And then I came barging in?’ Soushi quirks his eyebrow, and Mori huffs.

‘More or less.’

‘Okay, we get it, Mori-senpai had his love at the first sight in a less than unromantic circumstances happen.’ Nozomu says, raising his hand, prompting a weak squeak from Ren. ‘And how does that relate to Sora missing today?’

‘It was a joint project.’ Morihito sighs, bending forward, and Soushi groans. Mori quickly adds. ‘I’ve made sure it wouldn’t be continued by them, either, but....’

‘They passed the idea forward, is what you suspect.’

‘More than suspect, actually.’ Mori grimly says, and hunter quirks an eyebrow.

‘Base?’

‘Today’s meeting’s topic.’ High vampire answers, but before he can elaborate, a rune alert goes off, followed by a short message for Soara and Solids, as well as Quell’s and Growth’s leaders to get to the meeting room.

‘Seems like Yayoi-san did predict the same thing.’ Mori says, standing up, rest of Soara following after him. ‘Let’s go. I’ll explain everything without repeating myself, at least.’

*

The first person Sora sees, a good long while after he finishes exploring his cell, coming up with the plans of actions and trying to figure out what is blocking his sight, is a bulky vampire, using only single word commands.

‘Up. Out. Forward. Slow.’

Sora doesn’t even try to start a conversation, or disobey; it was obvious the guy was lesser rank, possibly a tool of whoever staged his abduction. He tries to look around, orient himself, but a shove at his head - he winces - informs him it is not welcome, either.

‘Forward. Right. Left. Right. Right.’

He tries to remember the way, but gives up at seventeenth crossroads - he’s pretty sure there should not be any facility this big that is hidden at the same time. He quickly comes to a conclusion that the guy is making him walk more on purpose, either to confuse him, exhaust him, or just out of plain spite. He doesn’t really mind, while the air on the corridor is still stale, he at least can hear and see normally again.

Although, maybe it would be better if he didn’t.

The sound in the facility is in shambles. Phrases are broken in the middle, notes are out of tune, and words are a jumbled mess of actual messages held in them and desperate pleading, for what - Sora couldn’t really tell.

He’s never seen this kind of mess, but. If he was to believe Soara’s partner Unit, that was what happened when somebody got broken, past the point of no return... or contaminated with Black Despair, that was swallowing the Song up, bit by bit, at the same time as it took the personality, the life, out of its victim.

Sora really hopes it’s not the research on Black Despair that the facility focuses on, but at this point, he cannot be sure.

They finally arrive to the laboratory room, after he manages to repeat the whole List of Stuff to Do in Case I Get Kidnapped Again and see if he didn’t skip any points by accident.

He didn’t, and so, he moves on to fulfilling previously omitted on purpose point four, and focuses all of his attention on the three vampires in front of himself. Or, two vampires and a dhampire.

Sora doesn’t like the way in which the only phrase in the room sounds broken. He likes even less the white coats two vampires wear, they called forth a faint memories he’d rather keep buried four feet under... with exception of one aspect, but well, it was a given.

‘Ah, HC01.’

Yep. Definitely buried four feet under.

Especially since keeping it that way kept one of his boyfriend away from the charges of illegal human experimentation...

Actually, they didn’t look like Mori relatives? Both blackheaded, skeleton level thin, and with dark eyes shining with unhealthy curiosity.

‘I have a name, you know.’ he says, although his voice shakes slightly. Damn. ‘Who are you, and how did you get those data?’

In one of those rare times they did touch upon the topic, Mori assured him and Soushi that the data obtained from research on Sora were secured and put away. He had no reason to lie to them, so. That left theft...

‘Well, aren’t you a smart one.’ lightly remarks one of the vampires, and dhampire flinches. ‘But, no, you no longer have a name, HC01. And you will address us as sirs.’

‘How did you get the data, sirs?’ he makes sure to accentuate the polite form. He knows the objectifying bastard when he sees one, so. For now point six, what to do to keep safe, is to obey, while trying to continue to gather as much info as possible.

Which won’t be easy, because even the most self-assured jerkasses will have some degree of carefulness to them, if they’re researchers. Sora knows something about that.

‘Somewhere familiar to you, but it’s not like you need to know it.’ he turns to his companion. ‘Repu, move the S223.’

‘Wha- I did nothing, no!’

‘And maybe shut him up while we’re at it.’ he adds, staring in disgust at the dhampire who starts to thrash. Sora’s guard came forth at the sign from other researcher.

‘Yes, Mikazuki-sama.’ together with bulky vampire, they pin the poor dhampire - now that Sora focuses on him, he can see his thinness had nothing to do with natural body shape, like with the other two. Was he starved?

Though, judging by his reaction, and his sound, starvation was the least of the guy's worries...

‘Let’s start the experiment. HC01, Compose his,’ researcher’s hand lands on dhampire’s arm, prompting a whimper from his captive, ‘object S223’s personal Song. We have ways to prove it’s there, so don’t try to lie that it doesn’t exist.’

Sora is glad he’s got time to remember the whole List of Stuff to Do in Case I Get Kidnapped Again, to check with it, really. He’s glad he remembered points from eight to twelve, all relating to stuff he should and shouldn’t say to get himself out in one piece-

‘Are you fucking nuts?!’

*

‘Well, this wasn’t on the list of my suspicions when I heard baby Composer disappeared, if I’m honest.’ Tsubasa speaks up after Morihito and Haru more or less confirm each other’s suspicions while explaining the most likely situation that caused Soara’s leader disappearance. ‘So, you say it’s that partners of Ariharas got a leak, and that leak caused somebody outside the workers shut up by Arihara junior over there to get the files of experiment on the so far only human Composer we know of. Yep, definitely not what I predicted. _Composers_.’

‘I can’t stop thinking about the why didn’t you just destroy the data, though.’ Shiki speaks up, side-eyeing Mori. ‘I’d say you were very aware of the danger it brings to your Composer.’

‘I was-’ starts Mori, but Soushi steps in between two vampires.

‘And would you choose to destroy, or even seal away a Song, if you knew it could hurt your Singers?’ he asks dryly, and Mori blinks at him. ‘Because that’s more or less the situation here.’

Shiki huffs, and turns his head away, but Solids notice stiffness in his shoulders.

‘That’s not a very good comparison, Soushi-kun~ Not for a Takamura Composer, at least.’ lightly scolds Shun, but it causes electrifying reaction from Shiki, who whips his head towards the other vampire.

‘ _Shimotsuki._ ’ he growls, and Rikka blinks. Shiki shut him off quite abruptly...

Shun shrugs, as if Solids Composer didn’t suddenly title him with his family’s instead of regular name like he used to.

‘I won’t say any more than that~’ he still promises the other High. Tsubasa looks between two of them.

‘Rrright...’ he mutters, but it’s obvious he’s recorded yet another research goal in his mind. ‘For now, let’s focus on Sora’s case. Any ideas as to where he might be? Like, constructive ideas, I know it will be the lab of some kind.’

‘Hidden lab.’ Ren speaks up softly. ‘I’ve scanned all of the shelter in the past day, searching for Sora-senpai.’

‘Right.’ Soushi looks at air sensor. ‘And, considering our history, you actually have the biggest chance at actually localizing him.’

Shu hums.

‘In what way hidden?’ he asks. ‘There are ways that can be pinpointed by the wide-range water scan, like the Void.’

Two albino vampires in the room sigh like one, and Shu smiles slightly.

‘Though it’s not proved it will be used here as well.’ he admits.

Ren frowns.

‘We can cross-reference it.’ he suggests slowly. ‘The air and water scan.’

Shu nods.

‘That’s why Issei’s wrapping up water one as we speak.’ he admits easily, notes of pride still slipping into his voice. ‘I was helping him until the meeting, so we should have it ready in a few minutes.’

‘So, our guess is „hidden, as in refusing both sensoric and elemental prompts”?’ Tsubasa muses, ‘Maybe I’ll add a glyph scan to the set, since that’s what you used to track Sora down when Ren moved away, right, Soushi? If there’s a place that refuses all three of those, we’re as good as set, then. I can’t imagine other experiment needing that protection.’

‘Yeah, albeit I’m a bit worried if his kidnappers know that much.’ hunter says slowly.

‘Doesn’t hurt to check anyway.’ Tsubasa returns, before becoming serious. ‘You know searching is as far as we can help, right? If this involves Loser’s side, representatives of the winner side won’t be the best match up to maximize Sora’s security. Anybody’s security, really.’

‘I don’t mind.’ surprisingly (or is it really) it’s Mori who answers the hunter, eyes blazing with this kind of calm fury his closest friends learned to respect and fear a little. ‘It’s quite personal for me, anyway.’

‘Don’t you think it should be „for us” in there?’ Soushi asks rhetorically.

‘Agreed!’ Nozomu says cheerfully. When everybody looks at him, he shrugs, ‘Hey, Sora is our Composer as well!’

He points at himself and Ren, who just nods.

‘Well, you must agree it is also a bit personal for me.’ Haru says with a discreet smile. ‘Getting proposed with a „new idea to improve race” that includes stealing one’s juniors to perform questionable things on them calls for punishment, right?’

He and Kai were the only vice-captains from Tsukiuta project, not that it stopped the room from being quite crowded. Still, his remarks alert a fair share of occupants.

‘Just don’t do anything illegal that will land us in questionable position.’ Tsukino sighs, fully aware there’s no point in subduing the thirst for blood of the offended vampires. Especially since, if those vampires are Yayois and Ariharas, it was quite possible the outcome of stopping would be more destructive than if they were left alone.

‘You know we’re good at hiding.’ Haru says somewhat bitterly, before blinking. ‘Actually...’

‘I just thought the same.’ Hajime agrees. ‘You should join the scan party. You might be able to figure something out.’

‘Hajime...’

‘They are also my juniors, you know.’ his leader smiles wryly, before side-eyeing SQ leaders. ‘At least some.’

Shu snorts softly, Shiki sighs, but doesn’t argue.

Tsukino looks around the room carefully.

‘The Tsukino facilities are yours to use.’ he says slowly, ‘We consider it efforts of reclaiming an active Field member, so. It might be hard to pressure a high-ranked family, if they’re involved, but. We can try that as well.’

He smiles wryly.

‘If there’s one thing recent Growth’s issue has made me realize, it’s that we have a lot of heirs working with us, and so, we should take the full advantage of that.’

Kouki sighs. Then, he blinks. And then, he abruptly turns to Morihito and Haru.

‘You’ve said you think the project people stole Sora for was proposed to the Loser’s group as improvement of the race?’ he asks, and confused vampires nod. ‘Then, it would be natural for it to be covered. It won’t be enough to prove ill will. At least, not if you approach them.’

‘Kouki?’ Shu blinks, but heir continues.

‘But if you approach them with a possibility of even better hiding of it?’ Kouki turns to the retainer he took with himself for the meeting. ‘Ken, it’s air Spirit Users that are working on Grey Hope, right? Could you get drafts of the project for that?’

‘Kouki?’ Mori asks alerted. ‘You don’t plan to give them-’

‘After we find the base.’ Kouki explains. ‘Because we will, I’m sure of it. If you approach it as if you were testing the protections, and found them insecure enough to intervene for the sake of the project, and come in proposing the better cover up solution...’

‘We could skip on sneaking in or most conflict parts.’ Haru says with realization, before blinking. ‘But, Kouki-kun. The technique you’re talking about, isn’t it-’

‘General has said we need to make use of the fact we have heirs in our ranks.’ Kouki returns with a smile and sparkling eyes. ‘And I am one of them. And Grey Hope was invented to literally help people, in a different situations, but. I can’t imagine better way to help than reclaiming abducted person.’

‘There’s only one problem here.’ Kensuke speaks up. ‘And it’s that you need somebody with shadow as their affinity to use Grey Hope. And in current situation, I don’t think it’s the wisest to let Mamoru anywhere out of your sight, Kou.’

Kouki blinks, visibly deflating.

‘In that case, how about me and Yoru make a small trip to assist Haru, Ka-i~?’ speaks up the playful voice of the Procella’s leader. Called out human blinks.

‘But he’s from the lesser family connected with the Hazukis, and you...’ Kai starts, before drifting off in the face of his smiling leader. ‘Now that I think...’

‘Shimotsukis never took side.’ Shu and Shiki chorus at the same time, before Shiki hums.

‘Actually, neither did Mutsukis. I automatically assumed they were on our side, but none of signing agreements had a representative from them, right?’

He asks his Changed and Rikka shakes his head.

‘The signers of the alliance Pact were Etou, Okui, Hanazono, Uzuki, Kannazuki and Shiwasu families, with Shu and Kisaragi-san representing Groups, and rest of the Seven representing the vampires.’ he recalls. Shun nods.

‘Exactly~’ he looks at Hajime with adoration. ‘Our families have made a separate Pact of non-aggression that obliged both of them to stay out of interracial conflict, to keep our powers in balance. Hajime wasn’t born at the time just yet, but I actually was already there... as a little boy just like Fujimura, but still. That meant, Mutsukis would soon have the heir to match my power. It was to avoid end of the world~’ he explains easily. ‘Even if we both did slip our branch families into either side.’

‘Right, Hanazonos and Tendouins.’ Shu nods. ‘Albeit I feel Tendouins spared a lot of their powers for the Loser team. Their espionage was quite easy to sense.’

‘Oh, that’s because they were there to sabotage Wanderers.’ carelessly says Shun, and the room stares. ‘What? I’ve never told you?’

‘How many times did I tell you to tell those things earlier!’ Kai all but whines. ‘But also, why does Tendouin keeps quiet about it?!’

‘A matter of pride, perhaps.’ Tsubaki shrugs, unbothered by the discussion of her family matters. ‘It was out of spite, after all. Wanderers killed a man that was a vessel of a certain Spirit our families are quite fond of, that was to be Changed by the head of Tendouin family just before the war.’

‘I’m starting to feel incredibly sympathetic.’ softly says Rikka, and Shiki reaches out and wraps an arm around him without even looking.

‘There, there.’

‘If you’re going to half-ass your consolation like that, let us handle it?’ dryly says Tsubasa, sneaking behind the Changer and wrapping his arms around his waist. Rikka scoffs.

‘Tsubasa. We’re in public.’

‘There’s no Kisaragi to point out a problem with it, so.’ Tsubasa returns, shoving his chin into Shiki’s arm, still around Rikka’s shoulders. Shiki grunts. ‘So, back to the topic-’

‘You can’t seriously want to continue like that?!’ Rikka asks with a mix of bafflement and terror and outrage, and Tsubasa snorts, backing away.

‘Nope, just making you feel better.’ he answers (vampire scoffs, but then smiles), before turning to the - baffled - rest of the room. ‘Okay, now, we were at shadow user coming in to present that brand new technology Etou offers to use as a bait for the kidnappers. And Shimotsuki tagging along, just for the heck of it.’

‘That’s rude! I would act as a cover up for the presence of Yoru, who is related to the winner side’s family.’ Shun shrugs. Hajime hums.

‘It’s true that would serve as a plausible excuse.’ he says, and Shun perks up. ‘It would also act as an additional lure, Shimotsuki family getting interested enough to get engaged is something you want if you make a project with questionable ethics. You’d need a family of at least that influence to make it pass through the public’s throats.’

Darkness hunter then looks sharply at his counterpart.

‘But why would you propose that yourself? You’re not the guy who likes to add the job to your schedule.’

‘Oh my, isn’t it obvious? Hajime praised me~!’ Shun answers with a playful wink, and Kai, as well as some other people in the room, groan loudly, but Hajime’s eyes do not lose their sharpness.

‘Is that so.’ he says slowly, before looking to the side, where his vice put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Haru.’

‘I’ll be there as well, Hajime.’ vampire reassures. ‘And it’s true Shun’s presence will make it easier to get us into the facility and to where Sora-kun is quicker. Especially since his presence should easily cover up some more people coming.’

‘I hoped you’d say that.’ Soushi says with a quirk of his eyebrow. ‘Because you didn’t think I’d let the vampires do all the job? It’s our partner Unit that needs to keep away, not us.’

General Tsukino nods, before turning to Kouki.

‘Are you sure we can use your family’s invention?’ he confirms, and Kouki smiles.

‘I see no reason why not.’ he hums. ‘We can teach the actual technique only to Yoru-san, and pass the incomplete copy of the research to the kidnappers, to make sure they won’t be able to use it against us, too.’

‘I do not plan to let them get away with anything, though.’ Soushi says quietly, and Ren looks at his big brother figure, but keeps quiet.

And Tsukino nods.

‘Then, we will go with it. Although,’ he looks around the room, ‘you will have to be aware we will not be able to pursue legal action against them, at least not until they try to take one against us. It will be stealing of the stolen Composer, of sorts.’

‘With the way the system works, I like it better out of our hair.’ loudly proclaims Nozomu. Tsukino looks over his forces.

Haru and Mori also smile and nod, but their eyes have unpleasant glint in them. Tsukino decides not to comment on it.

They are on their side, after all.

‘Okay then, search party, get to work and localize us this lab.’ he sighs. ‘We’re getting too confident in tracking kidnappers, I swear... retrieval party, gather all your members and rehearse your story, I want you on the move as soon as we find the lab and it becomes a fitting time of the day to... erm, „interrupt”, the research. Rest of you, keep an eye out for possible other distractions, all of Composers are to double their security as well. Until we confirm it’s safe for you, do not stay alone without contact with anybody, even in your room.’

Shiki, who’s been stared pointedly at by the end of the order, just sighs.

‘Understood!’ choruses rest of the room, before they break up to their respective duties.

*

‘Tsubasa.’ Dai calls out to their boyfriend before High can break off to join the search party, currently gathering in another room. They were the last ones left in council room, so. That was as much privacy as they could afford. ‘Why did you lie out there?’

‘I don’t remember lying, in a while, actually.’ Tsubasa still stops and turns to them, eyes sharp. Dai returns the stare.

‘The fact we can’t help beyond search because of history. It’s a lie.’ youngest repeats. ‘Maybe you and Shiki cannot... and, I guess Rikka, too, since he actually fought in that war, but. I’m not related to either-’

‘You’re my partner, Dai-chan.’ Tsubasa interrupts him, but Dai shakes his head.

‘I’ve returned to my name years ago. There’s no way anybody will mistake me for an Okui now.’

‘But remember you as the part of Solids, it’s rather plausible.’ Shiki speaks up, and Dai turns to argue with him. ‘Dai, give it up. There’s no point in arguing against it.’

‘But why?’ Dai asks, frustrated.

‘Because we’re actually not needed in this case.’ Rikka comes forward and places a reassuring hand on Dai’s shoulder. ‘We’d be more of a hindrance, with our connections, so helping the case would actually be to stop interfering before somebody notices us. Ne, Dai. I know you want to help, I also feel the same-’

‘But with Arihara and Yayoi in the mood they were in, and Shimotsuki on the loose as well, I think the less people involved, the better.’ Shiki fills in. ‘Worry not, their eyes said that, even without us, there will be hell and then some to pay.’

Dai grunts, but his shoulders slacken, losing their battle posture.

‘I hope you’re right.’ he says softly, and Rikka once again squeezes his shoulder, as their remaining boyfriends also approach them.

‘I am. Trust me.’ Shiki says, and there’s a dangerous glint in his eye. ‘I’m also a High vampire.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We skipped over them a lot in Ariel, but Sora has experience in being kidnapped. Which doesn't mean he won't get incredibly pissed when somebody order him to Compose against his will, lol. Also, the next chapter is actually why I have Shun ex machina in my notes for this arc.  
> Do not mess with vampires, please.  
> Thanks for reading!


	18. McGuffin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title refers to actual meaning of it, also known as the plot device, and in this case a Shun ex machina...and some more things, maybe? Who knows?  
> Enjoy!

Okay, so, exploding like that was not the wisest thing he’s ever done, but, seriously, could you blame him? Those idiots wanted him to Compose for a Singer broken by them to _that_ degree?

He was an artist, not a murderer! And even less a creator of the Marionettes, incapable of doing nothing but dancing at their master’s order!

He spit it into their face, didn’t he? Ah, accusing them of being creators of Marionettes also wasn’t a wise thing, Sora feels. He guesses he’s lucky enough he got away with just few punches, most aimed to placate him. He massages his stomach.

They still hurt.

Okay, so at least now he knows the kidnappers' motivations. They want to continue the project of Ariharas, whatever it was, only without drugging him and more by breaking him.

Now, about the second unfortunate soul that got caught up with him... the dhampire’s name, or rather, serial number, didn’t promise anything good. Did those researchers, this Mikazuki, broke down over two dozens of people’s phrases, all to make them obedient research subjects?

Well, if they really needed his Songs to create Marionettes, Sora thinks bitterly, he just needs to point out to them that they did a great job of breaking people down without it.

Not that they were going to listen to him, were they.

Okay, so. His options are a bit restricted. Either bend completely, oppose and get broken like the dhampire, or find a third way out. For now, escape was out of question, the bulky vampire was too attentive to him for the time being, and with Repu and Mikazuki in the room, he was outnumbered.

Sora crosses his arms and hums loudly.

The best option... for now, it’s to stall. Breaking people down usually is done in stages, maybe he should start by opposing, and then pretend to change his mind and go with what researchers want from him, only to sabotage his own work? Yeah, that seemed like a good idea. It will buy him some time at first to figure out what to watch out for, and then will give him opportunities to search for the exit.

Obviously, the question was where the heck this facility was located, because if he ends up springing straight out onto Field, he’s as good as screwed. Even with masking all Support Units learned, first Puppetmaster to sense him will be his death sentence - he was not Shu-san or Shiki-san or even Kou-kun to be able to deal with one of those monsters alone...

But, if he thinks about that, he will never get out. And Mikazuki and that other researcher seemed like a danger just as real as a Puppetmaster. Closer, too.

He inhales, then exhales slowly.

He will have to Compose this broken melody, won’t he? Well, he can just jot down what he sees, the shattered fragments of sound that need to be puzzled together before they can be used. This way, he won’t be handing the control over the dhampire’s Song to the researchers, and will do something that still will seem like Composing. But, after he finishes it, then what?

They will realize they cannot use the shattered Composition Sora will hand over to them pretty soon, but... yes, the moment after he hands it over, and they come to that realization, will be his chance to run. They will be distracted, everyone's guard will be down thanks to the excitement they will feel, and...

What about that dhampire?’

Sora feels instinctive distaste at leaving somebody behind. Back when he was a powerless kid, he couldn’t help that, but now... now he was Oohara Sora, member of the Field Unit Soara, wasn’t he? He should be able to save at least one life...

His thoughts are interrupted by the door opening, and light flooding his cell, and Sora tenses, eyes squinting, as he returns to the present.

First things first. He needs to act out the bending to their will convincingly.

Who knows, maybe by the time he gets to escape, the guys will find a way to at least localize him...

*

‘Well, I guess we should have expected it.’ Shu says, even as his arms cradle Issei to his chest. Twin was leaning against his leader tiredly, but his eyes were also trained on the spot on the map just at the verge of vampire district’s border, touching the outer Field barriers of the Shelter.

‘At least it’s still within range.’ Issei says slowly, and Shu looks down at him.

‘Do you need to sit down?’

Twin shakes his head.

‘Focus on the plan to retrieve Sora-san, Shu.’ he asks, ‘I will be fine in a moment, and then will go to Ichiru.’

‘Alright.’ Shu nods, before looking at the rest of the people and vampires in the room.

Ren was leaning against Nozomu, and Tsubasa also took few steps back to lean against the wall. Directing this kind of glyph technique was a first for him, even if he reassured them with a confident smile that he knew the theory.

Soushi, who assisted Tsubasa, was also leaning against table heavily, but refused to let himself take a break, already discussing further plan of action with Mori and rest of the retrieval party.

‘I can get into district as Ren’s Guard.’ he was just saying, ‘and from there, I will find a way to cover myself up. The only problem will be directly at the gates.’

‘Ah, then there’s no problem~’ Shun smiles. ‘Trust me.’

‘I have a lot of qualms about that statement...’ Soushi looks sceptically at the albino, who shrugs.

‘I only have problems with hiding myself.’

‘No, that’s a pretty big problem.’ Yoru mutters softly, before sighing. ‘But, if worst comes to worse, I can be the one covering up. We just need to come with excuse for me using-’

‘You’re acting as a masker for our approach there?’ Haru ponders. ‘Or is that too simple of an explanation?’

‘Simple is good.’ Mori nods. ‘We don’t want to spend too much time on explaining ourselves.’

He looks at the map.

‘But, it might be hard to get Sora out without anybody noticing afterwards.’

‘Ah, about that.’ Ren raises his hand. ‘My parents extended the invitation to all of Soara before. And I think it still holds in power, so...’

‘We’re going to go into hiding at your house?’ Nozomu asks, and Ren nods.

‘It’s not the most obvious place, right?’ he asks worriedly. ‘Since it still is close, but also nobody will suspect a thing, because Sou-ni- ah, Soushi is my Guardian, and Sora-san is my leader, so. For those unaware, it will look like you’re really are just visiting... Is that not alright?’

‘No, it actually is perfect.’ Mori says, as the faint shine enters his eyes. ‘We can then split.’

‘Split?’

‘Ah, you will go with Sora to your house, Ren.’ Mori smiles at their juniors. ‘And me and Haru-san- and Shun-san, will go straight back to Tsukino, to look as if we were engaged in the matters of our families.’

‘Which technically, we are.’ Haru adds with a nod. ‘I like it.’

‘What will you do for plan B?’ Shu asks from above Issei, and everyone turns to him. ‘I hope you won’t need one, but you will never know, not with a Composer involved.’

‘So, I’m not the only troublemaker~’ Shun says, and Haru and Soushi huff lightly. Shu just smiles.

‘I’m pretty sure you’re still the biggest one, Shun.’ he stops abruptly as he feels a motionless weight lean against hm completely, and simultaneously, everyone in the room look at his Unitmate. ‘Issei?’

Twin doesn’t answer, his core calm, head leaning against Shu’s arm, and he feels his heart squeeze.

Really, what did he get all this blessing for?

‘Was the search... that exhausting, to people?’ Ren carefully asks, even as Shu rearranges his hold to gently lift asleep Issei without startling him awake. Tsubasa hums.

‘Not really, teenagers also rarely knock themselves out like that... but, I guess it’s different when you’re growing into your Elemental power.’

‘It definitely is.’ Shu agrees gently, before looking up. ‘Sorry about that, but I-’

‘Shu.’ Tsubasa makes a point of rolling his eyes at him. ‘We have an overprotective Muse and Singers in this room, getting one sleeping Singer and overprotective Composer less will not hurt anybody. Get Issei to rest.’

‘Agreed.’ like one choruses rest of the room, and Issei shifts in Shu’s hold. Everybody hold their breaths, but twin settles down without waking up. Haru huffs a surprised, soft laugh.

‘And I thought sleepy Rui was cute.’

‘He still is.’ Shun jumps in defense(?) of his youngest teammate, and Yoru just shakes his head.

‘Will you need help?’ he asks Shu, but the High shakes his head, and after once more checking on Issei and saying his goodbyes, leaves the room.

Tsubasa huffs a laugh.

‘I hope him falling asleep meant that our plan is so foolproof it didn’t even require any discussion.’ he shakes his head, before looking at the map. ‘Now, we have the basic plan for the road, time to get you guys-’

He points at the remaining High vampires.

‘-to channel your inner actors,’ he quirks an eyebrow at the unusually animated reaction of the whole of Soara, ‘so that we can check what will be the keywords for your human and lesser vampires’ shadows. Pretend I’m the jerk who’s checking you out after you knocked at the door to the lab. What are you going to say?’

*

Sora is still not sure if he timed it right.

He started in the same tone his outburst in the lab started, the _no, no way_ , and so on. He was pretty confident they wanted to keep him alive, so he could brush the more out-of-line threads aside with little consideration, but there were some that aligned with results of researcher’s action. The vague „we know how long it takes to starve human to death” seemed the most plausible threat, the guy he’s saw in the lab seemed to be starved in addition to something else that has broken him so much.

Well, Sora also knows how long it takes to starve a human, but he cannot afford to get to that state himself, he needs to have enough power to seize a chance to escape when such chance appear, after all.

So, he changes tone on the next meeting, because of course, they did not leave him alone for more than two to four hours, they also didn’t want to break him so much they would need to put him on an IV to get him back in a state capable of Composing.

At least that much.

So he starts negotiating on the second meeting, and it actually goes a bit smoother than he expected, mainly because it wasn’t Mikazuki, with his overgrown ego, but some other researcher persuading him, and he seemed more than happy with being able to report that Sora is caving after meeting with him.

Ever since they’ve formed Soara, Sora became more aware of all this stuff, of the corruption and manipulation and the attitudes that people in power and people yearning power use.

He wonders how come so many of Tsukino members, in the same or even better positions than all those other people, don’t feel half as endangered or half as greedy, don’t or can’t look down on the people weaker than them.

Awareness of power to responsibility relation, perhaps? Thought for later.

So now, Sora is being kept in a bright room instead, still completely closed off from the outside, and with one-way mirror in one of the walls - he’s pretty sure it’s one-way mirror, he feels unsettled every time he looks at it, so. More, he’s managed to even get the dhampire whose Song he Composes (or rather „Composes” - he’s going to jot the notes he sees around the man, but he’s not going to even pretend to give them any semblance of order. Let the researchers see what they had done with it) into the same room, still locked to a chair, but at least in a place where Sora knows he’s not being hurt even more, so. Still a win.

Speaking of locking, did they really had to chain him to the table by the ankle? What he is, a rare exhibition animal?

Well, he guesses, to them, more or less. Over the years he’s caught the various approaches of different kidnappers to him, to the human Composer. A thief approach, checking how he managed to steal an exclusively vampire skill (both Shiki-san and Mamo-chan, vampires from clans legendary for their affinities to music, confirmed it’s bullshit and it’s just that the longer lifespan made vampires more likely to meet with a trigger that would let them realize what they were).

A mutant approach, trying to vivisect him and discover what kind of gene has allowed him to Compose (he will be forever grateful to Ren and Soushi for finding him before those went beyond blood sampling).

And this approach, approach of anomaly, that combined the two. All of those approaches rooted in this disgusting sense of superiority of the vampire race over human one.

Now that he thinks, is that why majority of vampire Composers had human Singers? Even Shiki-san, after all Rikka-san was human at first...

But, neither of them treated their Unitmates as such, at worst they were equals, like in Shiki-san’s case, at best it felt as if they revered and to some degree feared their Singers?

(Which sounds strange, but alright, he also was scared of Ryota. He still doesn’t understand how Mamo-chan manages to Compose for somebody as intimidating.)

And, if he’s going by the path of superiority-inferiority relations, wouldn’t that mean he himself considered Ren, Nozomu and Mori lesser than him?

He stares at the wall for a moment, before shaking his head.

Yeah, no, no way.

_No way in hell._

He might have some... problems, with Mori’s family, but that doesn’t automatically mean all of vampire researchers are evil! Though, alright, he’s never met one that wouldn’t have slightly overgrown ego, except for Mori.

Sora touches his chest carefully. The bruises from the punching he got on the first meeting were at best slightly stinging now, but the pain in his chest was something different. It was this strange sense of having something ready to fill the emptiness inside of you just out of your reach, and he realizes with a startle that this was Composer's yearning.

Less than two days has passed since he last seen any of his Singers, and yet, he was already feeling like that... Sora suddenly shudders.

So what if vampires’ lifespan allowed their Composers a bigger chance to be met with their Singers. If each day they had to live without them felt like that...

Sora inhales sharply.

The first time he’s met a fellow Composer was when Shu-san has helped him get away from the Highs on one of his school trips. At the time, Quell wasn’t even... they didn’t even know each other, and Shu-san had been in that state _since before the war_. Since before his Singers were even born. Before _Sora_ was born. The same applied to Mamo-chan, and, to a lesser extent, even Shiki-san...

Sora finally realizes what made vampire Composers be a rarity, and human Composers be an anomaly.

That emptiness, that _yearning_ , for someone you didn’t even met, didn’t know, didn’t even _see_ , in the longer term would drive you insane. Drive anybody insane. And then eventually... it probably became too much.

Vampire clans known for Composers introduced them to musical education, changing yearning into expectation, not letting their Composers doubt even for a second they will meet the voices they were destined to bring to this world. Shu-san has been saved by the fact Shiki-san has been his Composer mentor, and Mamo-chan has been probably prepared by his family, before they passed away.

And Sora was just lucky enough to be met with his Singers before he could even pronounce the word „yearning”.

That's it.

The secret to the only human Composer in the country.

Sora wonders how Tsukino, the man who says he has no Singers, manages. Does he fills that void by Composing for the Tsukiuta Units?

‘HC01, your hand stopped. What’s wrong?’

 _„I just solved the riddle of my existence without having to starve, torture and break anybody”_ was probably not a good answer to the man entering the room, especially judging by the stressed out sound his fellow captive has made, and Sora slowly turns to the researcher.

‘Just trying to figure out the part you guys _shattered apart beyond recognition._ ’ he answers, glaring, but looking just below researcher’s eyes. He’s not stupid enough to provoke him all the way.

But. A little bit.

‘I see.’ researcher completely ignores his tone. ‘You’d better finish something today. There’s a food that will go to waste if we’re not satisfied with the progress.’

‘I’m good, feed him.’ Sora points in the direction of bound dhampire. ‘His Song is starving, too.’

Researcher huffs.

‘Don’t busy yourself with unnecessary things.’ he says in the imperious voice that instantly sets Sora on edge. ‘He’s not only part of just your experiment. And feeding would enhance his _inferior_ part.’

Sora blinks. Part?

He looks at the dhampire-

Wait a moment- No, they could not possibly-

He turns sharply to the researcher and opens his mouth, when the broken Song _screeches_ in terror, and Sora unconsciously raises his hands to his ears.

The dhampire read his intentions, and was _terrified_.

‘HC01?’

Sora turns sharply back to the table where he had sheets of paper spread, and grips at the pen tightly.

‘Get out!’ he almost shouts. ‘Don’t disturb me now!’

He jots the notes on the clear sheet at random, but it seems to convince the researcher that he’s got a breakthrough, because he can hear the door opening and closing. As soon as he confirms that there’s only broken phrases and loose threads of his Songs, separated from his Singers, in the room, he practically drops to his knees, bowing his head, hands clinging to the table to keep him from bending all the way forward and retch.

‘You’re fucking joking me...’ he says weakly, before turning and leaning heavily against the leg table. He looks at the dhampire on the other side of the room. ‘They really...you...with blood?’

The man stares at him wide-eyed, before his head drops and raises in a nod, and Sora feels like puking.

Spending time with various dhampires has taught him that, while they were indeed a little bit more mobile, strong and had more vitality than normal humans, they also had a completely human needs. And although Koi had admitted to being able to live off of transfusions without feeling hunger or thirst, he still needed his blood group and all the precautions a normal human would need when getting blood transfusion after an accident or something like that. He couldn’t _drink_ it. His body didn’t have the same biological system vampires did.

Even General Tsukino, who was what some could consider a High dhampire, couldn’t digest blood like vampires did. And even some vampires didn’t drink, like Mamo-chan-!

‘Why...’ he manages to utter with chapped lips, but his brain instantly provides him with an answer.

To expand a range of ways through which the vampire can be created. To make the until now impossible to Change dhampires into possible source of vampire race. To gain upper hand over humans, who has never found a way to get a dhampire turned into human.

To make superior rule over inferior.

_„Disgusting.”_

With Puppetmasters murdering people, dhampires and vampires alike, at random, not differentiating between the races, _that_ ’s what this facility focused on? _That_ ’s a reason for which a probably pretty nice Song had to be shattered to a million pieces-?

Sora abruptly jerks upwards.

‘That’s what you’ve meant.’ he says with a realization, and the dhampire nods again, resigned.

He has more or less begged Sora „not to do this”, at first, when they were left in the room alone, and there was a chance the researchers weren’t yet observing and listening to them from behind the mirror. At the time, confused Sora asked if his reading of the Song hurt the dhampire, and promised not to shatter it further, but his fellow captive just looked at his feet.

‘You won’t be the one deciding it.’

Now, Sora understood.

In a way, the Song, the living sounds in general, were part of the being, the very vital one, in fact. It was affected by the fears, the pain, and the happiness. Each and every aspect of person’s life, personality, and everything that made them be themselves, was reflected in their sound. That’s why taking it away by the Black Despair was irreversibly killing the sane part of the Marionette, changing it into a puppet, faceless, lifeless being that had nothing but emptiness.

Sora fists his hands, causing the still held pen to break and smear his hand in black. Observing the spread of the ink over his arm and white clothes - they forced him out of his own before moving him, searching for any devices he could use to escape - he cannot help but shudder at the fitting metaphor.

Puppetmasters sucked the Songs out of the living to bend them to their will, change them into the form perfect for their bidding. The researchers were trying to use his abilities in the same way, make him Compose the shattered Song in hopes of him piecing it together while omitting the human parts of the dhampire’s existence. Bending Singer’s existence to the form perfect for _them_.

And if there’s one thing Sora knows for sure, it’s that he will sooner become a dead body than change into Puppetmaster in other people’s hands.

*

Soushi is seriously glad Tsubasa has made the vampires rehearse their lines with him in the room, because Shun, Haru and Mori were terrifyingly convincing in their roles of bitter, condescending Highs who look down on each and every being that is not a fellow High.

Haru even manages to use a belittling joke about humans and Composing, to feel out the researcher they were negotiating their entry with!

Soushi looks to his side, at the two younger vampires hiding behind the tree trunks just like him, peeking out into the clearing on which the other vampires were now presenting Grey Hope as another layer of security that will hide the facility from even High vampires like them, especially those from the winner side...

Soushi can still see the way in which Ren is using breathing exercise to keep himself under control, meaning all of the other vampires were actually furious, just playing their part so well an outsider like the facility’s worker couldn’t see it.

To be honest, Soushi feels he might also be causing a hard time to his charge. He did block their Guard connection, but Ren probably still could pick out his jittery, anxiety and anger the normal way...

Nozomu falls on all four and crawls behind low shrubbery to Ren’s tree, before raising and literally pinning smaller vampire to it with his body. On Soushi’s eyes.

Ren, which is understabable, squeaks.

‘Did you hear that?’

Soushi holds his breath. If this will cost them the success of the whole action, he will personally murder the High, status be damned-

‘Yes, it sounded like those cute puppies we were passing on our way there, right~?’ speaks up Shun’s almost jovial voice, and after a second of pause, probably for the others to confirm, Shun continues. ‘It’s alright, Yoru’s mist can confuse even animals~ check for yourself. It’s nowhere to be seen, right?’

Soushi can see tendrils of the Grey Hope entering past the line of trees, meaning Yoru followed up on his leader’s impromptu story.

He’s had experience in that, probably, but still, _how did that work_.

‘Indeed, the forest is now much quiet.’

‘Isn’t it~?’

Soushi slowly exhales as the conversation returns to the course they hoped for it to go, and looks at his juniors. Ren looks back at him with a really upset puppy’s expression, and alright, he gets where Shun got his idea from.

Ren mouths an „I’m sorry”, clinging to Nozomu, and Soushi frowns, opening their Guardian Pact’s bond just enough for Ren to understand what he will be answering to him.

‘It’s Nozomu who should be sorry.’

Ren shakes his head, and Soushi blinks.

‘I almost exploded.’

Soushi blinks again. So, the seemingly out-of-order action of Nozomu actually had a reason? The random pda was actually a physical barrier to protect Ren from the influx of the emotions from outside?? Did Nozomu grow a brain finally???

He’s definitely not complaining if his charge is going to make their youngest High use his head more, but.

It would be good if he took their circumstances into consideration... Soushi was pretty sure he had a micro heart attack just right now, and he didn’t want to think what Mori and others up front felt...

‘It’s okay now, they went inside.’ calls out Yoru’s voice, and Soushi nods at his teammates.

Grey Hope is actually masking even their footsteps as they approach shadow vampire, currently checking on the door, and nodding in satisfaction.

‘Shun-san froze them on his way in,’ he explains, pointing at the small, frozen controller, ‘I can’t believe his inability to use technology correctly would be useful at a time like this...’

‘Your leader is so useless it’s actually high-spec in on itself.’ Soushi grumbles, and Yoru chuckles.

‘Well it’s hard to deny... but, he’s skilled in many other areas.’

‘I know.’ Soushi admits, before they manually pull the door open. ‘Now, let’s go get another somewhat useless yet incredibly skilled leader out.’

And perhaps make a mess of the plans of some jerks, he adds to himself, but somehow, the look in Yoru’s eye tells him vampire knows exactly what he implied.

‘Yeah, let’s.’ Procella’s only representative just says.

*

He catches a sound of his Singer’s Songs, invading the stale air like a typhoon of energy, just as he is led back into the room after disgruntled researcher ordered him to be cleaned and changed.

And Sora doesn’t think twice about seizing the opportunity. After all, the List of Stuff To Do In Case I Get Kidnapped Again had a separate point specifically for that situation.

Point X, in case of a chance at rendez vous with Sou (later he added rest of Soara), take the chance immediately.

He freezes in front of the opened door to the room, making his guard grunt in annoyance before coming closer to push him in. Sora sends quiet thanks to Ren for asking him to test out the self-defence techniques he invented for his students to be able to protect themselves from vampires.

Long story short, they worked. Extremely well, in fact. And Sora was not going to hold back.

The guard manages only a soft sound of surprise before going down, his solar plexus at a perfect height for Sora to be able to dig his elbow with all of his power, and then, when giant body bend in a self-defense, bringing his other elbow down onto giant’s neck.

(Seriously, they should better equip their guards. Although, on a second thought, maybe not.)

He makes sure the unconscious body stays in a way of the glyph sensor in the doors, preventing them from closing, and rushes inside, straight to the chair the dhampire was bound.

‘Think you’ll be able to run if I get those off?’ he asks, even as he digs into rubber-like bands on his wrists. There were another set on dhampire’s ankles, and shoulders, but once he frees his arms...

‘W-W-What are you doing?’ the dhampire screeches, his Song once again scratching against Sora’s mind, but this time, he accepts it, embraces it, and wraps it in a band aid only a Composer can provide.

He looks up with a grin, at the malnourished face.

‘Getting us out. My rescue party is in the building.’ he admits easily, just as the band gives up, his careful manipulation mixed with just smallest of air pressures (he’ll never understand how he can easily manipulate those large masses of air while in Song) doing its work. He latches to the other one, once he gets the dhampire’s hands free, he should hopefully get a help from him... ‘And Composing your Song, properly, all bits included and put together like they should, after we get out and you’re still up to it. I think you’re one of those that don’t have any Composer attached to you specifically, so I’m not jumping into somebody else’s terrain with that offer.’

Dhampire slowly shakes his head. Then the gesture grows more frantic.

‘N-No... no, I don’t, we can’t, i-it won’t work... they will catch us a-and then, t-then they will-’

‘They will do nothing, because they will not get to us.’ Sora says with as much conviction as he can, destroying the second rubber band. ‘I have friends, and those friends will not let us get more hurt. That’s the job we have, actually.’

‘Job...?’ the man’s breath hitches, and Sora busies himself with the bands on his legs. He pauses, though, as he hears the next words of his fellow captive. ‘Y-You will not let them get me. E-Even if we fail, if we get captured a-again. I- I cannot become what they want, _I will not_.’

Sora understands the implications, gets the desperate request and where it comes from. He inhales, exhales, and looks up with a grin.

‘You’ve got it! Not that it will be needed. Not with the Songs that came for us.’

*

The alarm goes off just as their guide explains the workings of machinery that’s supposed to help eradicate human cells from dhampire's body, and Mori almost sighs in relief at it. If he had to listen even a second more to the phantasmagoric dreams of the results of the research, and Sora’s role in the so-called improvement of a vampire race, he would snap, both his Singer self, Sora’s fan self, and scholar self. How anybody could allow a project with so many logical mistakes be realized? How can one actually risk an illegal kidnappings to actually do that?

„HC01 and S23 escaped their room, I repeat HC01 and S23 escaped!”

Their guide curses loudly, even as Shun tilts his head curiously.

‘Seems like you have some trouble...’

‘One of the subjects is pretty fresh, it’s probably still acting up.’ the guide, Mikazuki, answers, pulling himself together, and turning to one of the exits. ‘Apologies, I will go get it under control, and then we can continue the tour-’

‘It might be hard to do.’ dryly speaks up Mori. ‘Getting a human Composer under control, I mean.’

‘Oh, you’re aware of it?’ Mikazuki pauses, and Mori smiles unpleasantly.

‘Quite personally, since I’m most likely the reason he acts up.’ he says, and Mikazuki stills. ‘Composers have a thing for hearing their Singers nearby, you see. Sou, did you get the direction?’

‘Perfectly.’ Soushi answers, and the illusion threaded by Yoru collapses, revealing all of Soara. ‘I’m going to get him now.’

‘Please.’ Mori says, eyes not leaving Mikazuki. ‘Tell him not to worry about me, too, if you can.’

‘I-Intruders!’ Mikazuki finally finds his voice and motor senses, for he instantly reaches communication device in the corner of the room. ‘We’ve got invaders, activate security mode five!’

The glyph stone on the device blinks, before greying out, covering in a sheet of frost. Mikazuki stares at it and then at his own breath, coming out of his mouth in a faint white cloud.

‘Oh, whoops, my power slipped~’ Shun says with eerie glee. ‘What a clumsy man am I...’

‘Sou, Ren, Nozomu. Go ahead.’ Mori says slowly, as Haru moves quickly towards another door in the room, disappearing behind it. ‘We’ll see each other home. It sounded like Sora brought somebody along, but-’

‘Haru will take care of that.’ Shun smoothly fills in. ‘Hajime asked him a favor that included it, so. Yoru, go with the Soara boys. There are things a heir to the winner’s side family is better off not looking at...’

‘Shun-san... don’t get careless.’ shadow vampire says reluctantly, accepting he won’t be able to stop his leader, not this time.

Soushi looks quickly between all the vampires in the room, before giving a signal, and Ren and Nozomu obediently rush through the door towards which Mikazuki originally directed himself. Yoru follows after them, quickly exchanging looks with Soara’s only hunter.

‘Don’t get in trouble.’ hunter throws at his other boyfriend, and Mori smiles.

‘I promise I will clean up.’ he says, and Soushi measures High with a stare, before relenting.

‘You’d better.’

‘Y-You can’t do that!’ Mikazuki nothing but whines at them, trying to make a step and slipping on the icy surface of the floor.

‘I’ve said to be careful... I seem to be quite cold today.’ Shun looks at the vampire splayed on the ground, and suddenly drops his smile. ‘As to what we can and cannot do, it is not for you to decide.’

‘It’s our research-’

‘You mean Arihara’s.’ Mori steps forward. ‘The power of the Composer and possible uses in mutation creating. Twisted around so much it breaks at seams.’

‘You’ve realized-’

‘You’re using the same codes we did.’ Mori glares at the researcher, feeling wind picking up, changing to a storm in his chest. ‘Ruin the project I took part in and then concluded and shelved myself. _Steal my Composer_. And you ask if I _realized_?’

Mikazuki has the audacity to glare back.

‘Somebody unwilling to progress the science for the sake of something as dumb as ethics-’ he starts, and Mori moves.

One moment, Mikazuki is on the ground. The next, he’s pinned to the wall, Morihito’s hand on his neck.

‘Something as dumb as ethics, as you call them, have very little to do with it.’ he says lowly. ‘But Sora is _mine_.’

_„And Soushi’s, but he’s also mine, so.”_

‘And he is to be free.’ he strengthens his grip on the scientist. ‘And no ethics will be able to stop me from achieving that. Trust me.’

‘You...can’t...the...agreements...’

‘Oh, don’t worry about them.’ Shun says with a velvety voice. ‘It will be our small secret~ since there will be no traces left. You know, we’ve said the Shadow Mist- or rather, Grey Hope, research of Etous, took up space, preventing anything from passing through it without leaving a trace first.’

He raises his hand, and Mikazuki’s eyes bulge, partially from Mori’s hand more or less suffocating him, and partially at the sight of air above ice Elemental’s hand wavering, as if it suddenly got hot.

‘But, you probably know it, Void is the exact opposite of _anything_. It’s nothing~’

‘And that’s exactly what is going to remain of you and your projects.’ Mori growls. ‘I’m not repeating the same mistake twice. ’

Mikazuki might have known that, or might have not. Nobody would know anymore, as his body went rigid, the air he managed to breath in Morihito’s grasp still under his captor’s control. Becoming the weapon vampire uses to slice the researcher apart from inside.

Mori turns, letting go of the body.

‘I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Shun-san.’ he says with something akin to sincere regret, but ice vampire ‘tut-tut’s him.

‘I’ve said it once before? You’re my sweet juniors, as well as Hajime’s juniors he treasures, even if it doesn’t show on his face too much.’ he says, waving his finger, at the same time spreading the Void over all of the room. Mori knew that, the second they leave it, Shun will collapse the whole technique, causing it to implode, destroying any traces of their activity.

How that man had so much trouble hiding on the Field again?

‘And those people would cause trouble to our further activity anyway.’ Shun finishes his thought, looking in distaste at the corpse behind Morihito. ‘Once we’d reclaim your precious leader, they’d go after Koi, Hajime’s lovely Unitmate. If we reclaimed him, they would direct their sights on Kuga brothers, once Shield enters the Field. It’s better to cut this knot now, before it will tighten on our necks, don’t you think?’

‘That’s gruesome way to put it.’ Mori smiles faintly, and Shun shrugs.

‘It’s a gruesome world we live in.’ then, he smiles surprisingly gently. ‘But, I still want it to last some more, so. Let us end things that yearn for its’ end...’

‘Agreed.’ Morihito says, turning to the sound of footsteps approaching them quickly, calling out Mikazuki’s name.

 _„Still, I’m glad Sora won’t see me like that.”_ passes through his mind, just as he unleashes the wind that joins with Shun’s ice, and changes into blizzard.

*

Sora couldn’t see, but he could _hear_. At least until Void didn’t cut him off of his Muse’s Song, but by then, he’s pretty sure he knows what happened next. Somehow, he doesn’t find it as terrifying as he thought he would.

It was, first and foremost, _sad_.

The fact Mori felt he had to do what he did, to atone for the research Sora didn’t blame him for.

The fact Mikazuki, with his incredible wish to improve lives of his fellow beings, turned into _that_.

The fact that through his ambitions, dozens of sounds were shattered almost beyond repair.

The fact there were still people and vampires sharing similar distaste for each other, looking down on the opposite race, and willing to use other living beings, when their opponent was just out there...

‘Sora-senpai?’

He shakes his head. It was not his current problem.

He smiles reassuringly at Ren.

‘I’m fine.’

He’s not.

But, he has no time to work it out, not now, when his escape turned into rescue mission to all other research subjects in the facility, almost twenty lesser vampires, dhampires and people alike. S23, or rather, Hosoda-san, the dhampire whose Song he was ordered to Compose, was currently holding out on his own, but it was mostly thanks to the small girl in his arms, who with unabashed love called him daddy.

(Suddenly, the terror at the offer of escape made much more sense.)

There still were many others, in various states, from just confusion, to downright broken body and mind.

‘Seems like we gotta change our plans a bit.’ mutters Soushi, but Haru, standing nearby, turns with a smile.

‘Not really.’ he answers, and Soushi quirks his eyebrow at him. ‘At least, not _your_ part. Soara should go as planned.’

‘And? You’re telling me to leave you with over twenty people needing qualified care on your own? I didn’t expect this form of recklessness from a High.’

Haru chuckles.

‘I’ll be just a guide.’ he answers pleasantly. ‘The ones doing the rescuing will be Mutsukis. Hajime has said there’s a residence that... irritates him with its uselessness, for it stands empty. Don’t you think it’s a perfect hiding place for until the uproar on Loser’s side doesn’t calm down and everyone here can go back to their homes?’

‘That’s...’

‘It’s alright, Soushi-kun.’ Yoru enters the fray, two more kids holding on to his sides. ‘Haizukis also agreed to take responsibility for the vampire part of the rescued. The place Hajime-san offers is actually not that far from one of the branches of their temple, so. It will be safe.’

‘Why does it feel like you’ve predicted it will end up with more than just one person rescued?’ Nozomu speaks from his place where he and Ren shared reserve rations of blood all Field vampires had on themselves with some of their starved kin. Yoru smiles, sheepish.

‘Because both Haru-san and Morihito-san did a thorough research on the family that had their facilities there, and knew their interests? And Hajime-san, while bound by the Pacts and all those things, is willing to look the other way if somebody needs a help that’s not... necessarily legal.’

‘We don’t really have the right to judge that.’ Sora speaks up, then frowns - his voice came out strange, and Soushi looked at him with something akin to alert in his eyes. ‘Anyway, care to give us some more details on those future plans of yours, so that we don’t go in blind?’

He’s wearing the same thing all other subjects are, and it makes it easier to speak on their behalf, as all, human, dhampires and vampires, seem to trust his judgement.

After they get briefed on the plan, Sora must admit it’s good. Keeping him and rest of Soara out of the picture has made it look like an independent action of the Highs, and even if somebody catches wind of the break in (break out?) in the facility, due to complicated political relationships between Yayois, Mutsukis, Hazukis and rest of all those old families and clans, it will just look like some planned staging, letting Sora’s case slip undetected, not igniting the conflict in relationship between independent forces and councils even more.

So, they do just that.

Ren’s parents are elated to see all of them again, even if they’re confused about Sora’s clothes.

(Admittedly, it is middle of winter and he had only the lab clothes and Soushi’s jacket on, not having enough time to get his old clothes out during the escape.)

They spend a casual day with them (after they find some spare clothes that fit Sora - god bless Ren for not growing tall like his brother figure), that feels unnatural after what transpired few hours prior, and, come evening, move back to the dorms.

And only when they’re back, and their juniors bid them a good night, does Sora find a moment to confront his feelings.

And he doesn’t like it.

He’s too casual about it. Too casual about almost becoming device meant to change somebody into a vampire against their will. Too casual about becoming a reason of somebody’s death. Sane somebody, not a Puppetmaster or a Marionette, to whom death in embrace of the Song always seem to feel like salvation.

He indirectly killed someone.

‘...Sora.’

He blinks, and his hands come into focus. Or rather, his fists, covered by Soushi’s hands.

‘What’s going on? You normally didn’t let abduction get to you like that.’

‘Mori killed people.’

He can see Soushi’s hands twitch, but his boyfriend’s voice is even.

‘He probably did.’

‘And it’s my fault.’

‘No, it’s not.’

Sora looks up in disbelief, and Soushi looks back, unamused.

‘You thought I’ll say something else?’ he asks, ‘Sora, seriously. Since the first time you’ve been kidnapped, I beat up, bribed, threatened, at some point even seduced, vampires and people alike, to get you out. You are not responsible for any of those things, though, I _choose_ to do them. As did Mori.’

‘But...if I wasn’t-’

‘If you weren’t a Composer we all would be dead.’ Soushi interrupts him calmly. ‘And you know it. We all know it, so get out of that dark corner, or Mori will blame himself and you will blame himself for Mori blaming himself and Mori will blame himself for you blaming yourself for Mori blaming himself-’

‘You’ve lost me at third blame.’ Sora smiles shakily, then lets the expression drop. ‘But, Sou, really. Is it fine?’

‘Killing? Not really.’ Soushi agrees. ‘But then again, neither is kidnapping you, and literally mentally raping you for the sake of an abstract research. Neither is it fine ripping apart the Unit responsible for the protection of the whole shelter system, and that is what we are, more or less. And it’s absolutely not fine taking you away from me and Mori.’

‘I feel like the last one had a different scale than the others-’ Sora starts, but is interrupted as Soushi leans forward, and shuts him up.

‘If we didn’t find you as quick as we did,’ he starts, separating from Sora's lips only enough to be able to speak, ‘Mori and I would rip the shelter apart, bit by bit, in search of you, and I’m pretty sure Nozomu and Ren wouldn’t try to stop us. Trust me, many more people would die then.’

‘I’m afraid I agree with Sou, Sora.’ speaks up the voice from the door, and two humans turn to their third boyfriend. Mori smiles tiredly. ‘Although I’m ashamed to admit that. Can I come in?’

‘What are you even asking that for?’ Sora and Soushi say at the same time, and Mori shifts. Sora „oh”s. ‘Since how long you’ve been listening? Mori?’

‘Just a few moments ago.’ vampire admits, sheepish. ‘I wanted to announce myself earlier, but...’

I felt guilty, Sora reads from his eyes. Somehow, the unspoken confession settle his jittery.

There were bad, maybe even _wrong_ things done today, by the people he loved, out of love for him.

That didn’t stop them from being them, though. He didn’t change them. Didn’t overwrite their Songs without even knowing it.

They were still Soushi and Mori.

 _His_ Soushi and Mori.

‘You’re idiots.’ Soushi groans. ‘Both of you. I’m dating idiots.’

‘You don’t have to repeat it so much!’ Sora whines, but Soushi waves his hand at him, standing up. Sora blinks as the hunter marches to the door, pulls the High in, and firmly shuts the entrance to the room closed.

‘Now.’ he says forcefully. ‘The two of you will have a heart to heart, then we will cuddle, then sleep and cuddle some more. I’m tired, so get over the hard part quick.’

‘Soushi, I’m not sure-’

‘I’m tired, too.’ Sora speaks up, and Mori looks at him in confusion. ‘So, we can postpone the heart to heart. Cuddles first.’

He demands, opening his arms, and can see apprehension and worry melt away from the eyes of both men in front of himself.

‘Are you sure?’ Mori asks, even as he and Soushi approach him, and Sora feels, this time, what his face makes is not a fake or shaky grimace.

So he beams at them.

‘You bet I am!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was on a roll when writing it, that being said...  
> Did I seriously just wrote random ShuIssei parent-child fluff, followed by Sora abuse, followed by a borderline yandere murder?  
> Apparently, I did?
> 
> I also am not sure if it resounded in the last part properly, but. Sora feels responsible for the actions of his Singers (more specifically, his boyfriends) because he realizes he's more or less alive only thanks to them accepting him as his Composer, filling up the void Composer feels when separated from his Songs. Then again, he's afraid because that connection makes him special, and it's possible it also affects his Singers in a way they wouldn't be, if Sora never entered their lives.  
> Which is true, but neither Sou nor Mori really care about life without Sora in it, so. Yeah ^^'  
> Also, Shun ended up having a line that made me sad, thinking about climax of this story, even if my brain was like "You have still some twenty chapters to write before you can even start thinking about this arc, girl..." lol, sasuga Demon Lord aka the End of the world personified
> 
> Thanks for reading! Aaand before I knew it, we're going back to the SQ!


	19. Kudakareta Kasumi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing was like "I won't let you write myself, I won't... whoops I'm at 10k already, silly me~" and I want to strangle my own work, lol.  
> Anyway, enjoy a bit of a setup to the Quell drama, and bunch of badly integrated water-related puns!

Kai stares.

Shun sips his tea.

Yoru looks nervously between the oldest pair int their Unit.

And You has had enough.

‘Care to explain what in the world is going on?!’ he explodes, which might not be the best option, because Yoru flinches in surprise.

‘What’s going with what?’ Shun asks innocently, and You stares at him for a moment, before turning to Kai.

‘Okay. What did our leader do _this time_?’ he asks with air of certainty that spoke of years of experience. ‘Because if it’s something similar to the nest from last month, I’m-’

‘Y-You! I think we shouldn’t butt in too much?’ Yoru nervously speaks up, and You looks at his childhood friend. He shifts nervously. ‘Plus, this time, it might also be a bit of my fault...’

‘No, I don’t blame you, Yoru. I know Shun is a handful.’ Kai finally speaks up, and the leader in question tilts his head curiously. Kai sighs. ‘Seriously though, I thought you’ve said you won’t go _too wild_.’

‘I’m sure I didn’t?’ Shun blinks his eyes innocently at him, but Kai isn’t buying that.

‘Shun. Seriously. There was a great release of energy at the outskirts of the vampire district, but all the patrol can find upon arrival are traces of Void.’ he says. ‘And while all of us know why you went there, other clans don’t. And active Void users are mostly affiliated with Tsukino.’

‘I’m pretty sure nobody can suspect Rui.’ Shun says with conviction. ‘He was with Iku, right?’

‘Right, Kannazukis were checking how their Pact was holding out- wait, that’s not the point!’ Kai exclaims in exasperation. ‘Just because nobody knows you’re both Elemental and Void user doesn’t mean people won’t suspect Procella’s involvement!’

‘Well, it was a matter between Loser’s side vampires.’ Shun waves his hand. ‘No doubt somebody will assume it was just their internal conflict reaching a bad end soon.’

‘Then it will give more job to Tendouin-chan.’ Kai exclaims, but Shun just huffs slightly.

‘It’s fine, she will not miss any opportunity to see Hajime because of that~’

‘That is not the point! We’re going to be supporting Quell! At public viewing! In less than two weeks!’

‘It’s not like any of their people have Void in their repertoire...?’

You looks at Yoru.

‘You feel okay?’ he asks, and his childhood friend nods. You sighs, letting the conversation of the oldest pair float above his head.

They were not going to make Shun aware of what was the problem they saw, so.

At least he can confirm they will be ready for the Briefing.

He saw what Quell was capable of doing during their first test. Still, it was a private show, and You had an unsettling feeling the next Briefing will be a repeat of the doubt parade regarding the new Shield Unit.

Oh well.

As long as they are by their side, it should be fine?

* * *

Before the Briefing, though, there’s a meeting of a council of Highs, since the shelter matters were getting out of hand, and, frankly speaking, there needed to be a forum to let all the opinions, proposals and complaints out, before something exploded (that is, something other than a supposedly abandoned lab in vampire district).

However, this meeting was not going along the usual way, and if he was being honest, Okui Mitsumasa quite enjoyed the novelty. First, the usual shitshow is cut by Mutsuki, his usual patience practically nonexistent, actually kicking Highs into their places and making them be constructive. Then, Hozuki finally admitted that their mistake on Tsubasa's dispatch was much more dangerous than they tried to make it (almost two years after the fact, but still). And now, when they move to the inner matters, regarding supplies, another surprise happens.

The meeting is interrupted by general of independent forces, Tsukino Mikoto himself, marching into the room, and slamming his hands on the table at which everyone sat. Few lesser Highs jump up.

‘Can you PLEASE leave my Units alone just for ONE MONTH?!’ He asks, accentuating each word. ‘I swear that’s the only thing I ask of you, not to mess with our Field operatives’ work, more than it is messed up on its own. And yet, I get a mess up from inside every. Goddamn. Month.’

‘Now, now, general. Aren’t you a bit overdramatic-’ starts one of the Highs, freezing under Tsukino’s stare.

‘Three months ago, Soara having to be suspended because you cannot solve a case and need a scapegoat to buy you time, and choose one of the members. Two months ago, Quell getting a request to suspend for investigation on custody laws, just as the kids themselves finally started saying they feel at home, and right after they fucking solve the case you struggled with. Then Growth- though admittedly I was also a bit excited at the potential purification device to implement, so I won’t whine about it too much...’

‘We’re working on it, I promise. This time without suspending any Unit’s activities.’ Etou senior says seriously, and Tsukino nods.

‘So, as you can see, I am not being dramatic, I’m just pissed off.’ he says, glaring at each and every High hunter in the room. ‘And I would like to ask for you to stop messing with us. Politely.’

Okui senior raises his hands.

‘Hey, I know that, going by the order you think about, the next to be involved into something is Solids, but, as long as you’re not sending Tsubasa or Dai alone out into the Field, I won’t interfere.’ he says with reproach, as if feeling a bit hurt at being suspected. Tsukino stares at him for a moment, before sighing deeply.

‘Okui is the only one I can trust with stability... it’s a literal end of the world.’

‘One, I think we had one end some... thirty one years ago already, two, rude.’ Tsubasa’s father points out, pattern of speech of Okui returning to him. ‘Also, I don’t think we’re the only ones causing you trouble.’

‘No, you’re not.’ agrees Mikoto, straightening. ‘That’s why, after this one, I’m going to interrupt the council of vampires to demand the same thing, so you know my speech about equality is not just a lipservice. They’ve recently tried to mess with Soara, so I guess it’s a good moment.’

‘We’re going to be equally scolded?’ asks Mutsuki, although his voice shows a surprising amount of amusement, considering his mood at today’s meet. ‘Well, at least this much. I can’t promise on everyone’s behalf, but as long as I get a logical and reasonable explanation, I am not going to get into your way, Tsukino. Hajime speaks highly of you, and this boy has a good sense for people. I presume dhampires as well.’

Tsukino exhales.

‘Fine.’ he takes a step back. ‘You know my stand on it now, so. I’ll take my leave, I’ve interrupted you with something, apologies for that. Good day to you, please remember my words.’

And with it, he’s off, and half of the room exhale, while the other half chuckle more or less nervously.

‘I guess that’s also a way of dealing with stress?’ says Tsubasa’s father. Mutsuki shakes his head.

‘I hope you were serious about nothing happening with your son, or this man will get a brain tumor or something, out of rage.’

Okui sighs.

‘The problem is, we’re not the only problematic part of Solids.’ he says, and Mutsuki huffs.

‘Whoever thought it fitting to make your son a Singer to a Composer of Takamura was a madman.’ he agrees.

* * *

The Briefing hall is abuzz with the expectations.

It wasn’t a secret Tsukino finally got their Shield Unit formed, the stories about their young members helping solve the by now infamous case of children kidnappings from last year was still circling certain groups. In the same way, most people became aware the one to take leadership of that Unit was youngest vampire of the Unit of the Seven and head of the Izumi group, Izumi Shu.

Still, nobody has seen Unit as a whole, and while some caught sight of all three members during the Hearing, there was still a question as to what kind of relationship will they present with their Composer. The three normal humans were, after all, being matched with a very experienced High...

And two of those humans were slipping into the hall, practically unnoticed by everybody gossiping around them, about them.

Fun things that happen when you’re fourteen year old Field member, they guess. Issei mutely extends his hand to Ichiru, and his brothers links them together.

Keeping together was important, since they promised Eichi they will not get lost and will be fine, even if he stays behind to catch up with a Backstage friend he obviously wanted to chat with for a bit. Reinforcing that and all the commands they got before they even left the dorms (Shu was jittery with his inability to walk with them), Issei closes his eyes, and sends the lightest water impulse he could manage. He still got two or three cores’ attention, but he also got the location he was looking for, so he nods to Ichiru, and together, they make their way towards where he has sensed a water core assisted by a blizzard. Or well, an ice Elemental core, which Shu very fittingly described as such.

He’s glad he has to focus on the location of Procella, because the silence that spreads like circles on the water from where they entered the crowd is unsettling. They don’t know anybody here, aren’t known, and yet, the way to where Procellarum is seems to only elongate with each new stare, each new rumor cut mid-word. It’s only a matter of time, before-

‘Oi, kiddos, where do you think you’re going?’

-that happens. Issei squares his shoulders, but continues moving on. The number one thing, somewhat infantile, ordered to them by Shu and Eichi, was not to talk to the strangers, and this time, Issei feels both of them are more than happy to follow it. Not that their surroundings want to allow them to do that. The crowd in front of them thickens, and Ichiru moves even closer to him, old habits reviving all too easily.

‘I am talking to you, hey! This is not a place for children-’

‘Issei, Ichiru!’

There’s a friendly if not extremely familiar voice, and Issei almost breathes a sigh of relief – if only it wasn’t in the middle of seemingly hostile mix of vampires and humans...

That now split around their senior from Procellarum, brown eyes warm, face open and smiling, and a second child of Minazuki family practically attached to his back.

Issei blinks.

Is that how they look when one of them is sleepy, he wonders.

(He’s usually the sleepy one, if he’s being honest.)

‘Kannazuki-san.’

‘I’ve said Iku’s fine already!’ he huffs a small laughter. ‘We’re just few years apart, right?’

‘True that.’ Ichiru says into his back. Rui looks above them from Iku’s shoulder.

‘Plus it’s not like we’re in different ranks, anymore.’ he adds. ‘Congrats.’

‘Ah, that’s right! Congratulations on graduating from cadet’s position!’ Iku says, and Issei wonders, past the bile his self-consciousness puts in his throat, if that is just his normal volume, or if Kannazuki’s heir is purposefully raising it to make sure people around them know who they are.

‘Thanks, I guess. But, was there any other option?’ Ichiru asks, and Issei has enough conscience to mutter a soft „Ichiru”. ‘What? It’s not like Shu has spare Singers he keeps us away from just not to make us feel bad.’

Iku chuckles.

‘Sorry, I just imagined Izumi-san keeping...’ he doesn’t finish his sentence, shaking his head in amusement. ‘Anyway, where is he now? And Horimiya-san, while we’re at that?’

‘Ah.’ twins chorus.

‘Eichi is...’ Issei pauses, before looking behind himself for a bit. ‘Over there. Somewhere.’

‘And Shu has Group matters to attend to before the ceremony, so he will join at last second.’ Ichiru adds. ‘He was really upset about that, for some reason.’

 _„Well, now we know why.”_ Issei unconsciously sends, and Ichiru looks at him.

_„Yeah.”_

They look around, but most people backed away the second it turned out there are people knowing the twins. There were still some glaring, though, and Issei hurriedly looks away from the hostile stares.

‘Anyway, what is Kan- Iku-san and Rui-san doing here?’ he changes the topic, before they say something wrong. ‘Isn’t rest of Procella a bit away...’

‘Ah, that.’ it’s the youngest pair’s turn to chorus, before looking at each other, sheepish.

‘That’s...’ Iku starts, probably searching for proper words.

‘Shun’s done something again.’ Rui butts in unceremoniously. ‘Or, well, some people think he did but he doesn’t think he did, and now it’s a mess.’

Twins blink.

‘Sounds complicated.’ comments Ichiru. Rui nods. Iku looks at his partner fondly.

‘Kai-san is mediating, since he’s Shun’s primary Guardian. Yoru-san has send us away so that Rui doesn’t get dragged in accidentially, since apparently, Void was involved... ack, sorry.’

‘No, it’s fine.’ Issei shakes off the shiver that ran through him at the memory. ‘But... isn’t that...’

‘Yeah.’ Iku sighs. ‘Rui was with my family when it happened, since we had to check our Pact, so I'm both his Guardian and the main alibi, but, just in case.’

‘I’ve been wondering about that.’ Ichiru says, and Issei ‘ah’s with a nod. ‘Isn’t the whole Pact thing for the underage? I mean, we did read documents for ours... well, Issei did.’

‘You tried your best.’ Issei amends, and Rui adds.

‘Don’t mind. I didn’t read mine whole either.’

‘No, that is something to mind, Rui!’ Iku whines. Rui blinks at him owlishly.

‘It isn’t.’ he counters. ‘Because you and Kai are nice.’

‘That’s not-’ Iku sighs, before turning back to twins. ‘Anyway, what was it we talked about? Ah, the Pact, right. Uh, Rui is underage, actually. Will be for much longer than I will, even though we’re peers.’

Issei nods, he does realize the optical age difference between the pair is the result of aging process of the vampires. Rui, looking younger than them, is actually their senior by three years, while Iku, looking older than Rui, is his peer.

It was a mess.

‘But...’ Issei once again looks around, before lowering his voice. ‘Isn’t Pact obligatory only for lesser vampires?’

‘Ah.’ Rui blinks. ‘Not entirely.’

‘No?’ twins chorus. Iku smiles.

‘The Pacts are Kannazukis idea, so let me explain.’ he says. ‘They are to be used on vampires that will not have a High family supervision, while moving around and among humans, without accomodation of living with them, and being treated like an adult, responsible for their actions. ’

He looks at his partner, before continuing softly.

‘Rui is... his family relationship is complicated, and while he isn’t officially excluded from it, he’s not living under supervision of his head, so. To protect him from allegiations of misconduct, me and Kai-san became his Guardians.’

Issei nods.

‘Sounds a bit like our situation.’ Ichiru muses. Iku chuckles again.

‘I’ve heard about it. Okui-san really went all out, didn’t he.’ he says, and Ichiru grumbles, while Issei just nods. Then, he blinks.

‘But, isn’t Kai-san also...’

‘He is. But, Shun’s case is special.’ Rui confirms, before twin can even finish his thought. ‘He needs supervision from the human side _because_ he’s High. A Shimotsuki.’

Twins nod like one. Then, Issei looks above their shoulders. His pupils flash pale blue, for a moment.

‘I... think it’s alright to go back, now. The cores have calmed down.’ he says slowly. ‘And also, separated from other bodies of water.’

‘Issei, your sensory skills improved even more?!’ Iku asks, and older twin shifts shyly. ‘That’s amazing!’

‘Isn’t it?’ Ichiru preens at his brother’s praise, and Rui hums.

‘We need to compare them, sometime.’ he says, and Issei nods shyly. ‘For now, let’s go back?’

‘Alright.’

‘What the hell?!’

Issei flinches, but somewhere at the back of his head, there’s part of himself that sighs with relief; he did expect much more push-back...

‘What is?’ Iku turns to the caller, and Issei becomes faintly aware of Rui’s eyes widening and rounding out. In answer, bodies of water he localized as Procella move towards them. Hurriedly.

There’s one more additional one behind them, also approaching, and both Issei and Ichiru stop themselves from looking back impatiently.

Can Eichi please hurry up?

‘You can’t just barge in and announce kids as the Field members!’ complains one of the men, and Issei faintly recalls seeing him somewhere in the reports Shu has made them watch to get to know various forces of the shelter. ‘They’re definitely well under threshold!’

‘I also was under threshold when starting out at Field, though?’ Iku blinks, and his opponent huffs.

‘I don’t care how screwed the High families bring up their kids, whether they make them into weapons or not, it is wrong to throw in random unprepared babies as a cannon fodder. We struggle enough with the kid Marionettes as it is!’

Oh. It was actually a plausible agrument? Issei tilts his head curiously. This man was worried for them, so he will probably back away if he knows they have proper protection...

The question was, if he will consider it proper.

‘I might agree with you on that a bit.’ Iku slowly admits. ‘But, Issei and Ichiru aren’t „random”, and definitely not „unprepared”. Right?’

Issei and Ichiru nod at the same time, but the man stiff huffs.

‘Few weeks of training does not fix the issue, Kannazuki-’

‘How about a year?’ Ichiru speaks up, voice showing slight annoyance at being talked about above his head. ‘Because it’s close to it since we first became compatible.’

‘Compatible?’ the man huffs. ‘Whatever, the year-’

‘It’s still not that long, Icchi.’ there’s a new voice, and Issei feels a hand on his shoulder. He looks up, to see Eichi smiling reassuringly at them. ‘For example, most heirs start training as soon as they’re capable of walking, and they still only enter the Field when at least twelve, and only as a last resort.’

He gently redirects them behind himself, and Issei obediently pulls Ichiru next to himself.

‘Still, you’re not going as solo fighters, you’re part of an Unit that will go out with another one, and aims to return in set as well.’ their Unitmate continues, looking back at foreign hunter. ‘In that manner, it’s a bit impolite assuming we’re using children as cannon fodder, Imai-san?’

Imai stares at him.

‘Horimiya.’ he looks at Eichi’s uniform. ‘I’ve heard you’ve transferred, but, honestly, I thought-’

‘That I would stay Backstage, or at least a Support? Honestly, I thought the same, but,’ here, Eichi smiles in fond exasperation at them. ‘As you might’ve figured, there were reasons for me to go to the Field.’

‘And you’ll be fine with it?’ Imai catches himself. ‘I mean-’

‘Did you know Eichi’s sister?’ Ichiru asks, prompting a weak protest from Issei, and blinking of the Procella’s youngest pair.

‘Ichiru.’

‘What? That’s logical assumption, right?’

‘It’s true, but...’ Issei looks back at Eichi, and Ichiru’s acks. Their senior, however, just huffs in amusement.

‘Imai-san was nee-chan’s friend and number one guy picking at me for choosing Support over Battle.’ he winks friendly at the man. ‘Guess it finally did its job.’

‘Horimiya, I grew out of those childish assumptions.’ the man shifts in place uncomfortably. ‘I was saved enough times, I guess.’

‘Well, I’m glad for that.’ Eichi grins easily. ‘Because our Support Unit consist of four individuals, three of whom could possibly go against a Field Battle no problem.’

‘Growth, was it...’ Imai blinks. ‘Wait, your, as in...’

Eichi points behind himself.

‘Meet Icchi and Isse, my Unitmates.’ he says, still in that light tone. ‘Our leader is still out.’

‘No longer.’ Issei says, eyes unfocusing then focusing again. ‘And he comes this way.’

‘Oh, already?’ Eichi turns to the twins. ‘I was sure it would take him longer, honestly.’

‘Horimiya.’ Imai calls to him again. ‘You weren’t joking? About the kids.’

Eichi sighs.

‘No, I wasn’t.’ he turns back to the hunter. ‘As I wasn’t joking when I said they won’t be alone. I’m sure you know what I meant.’

Imai blinks. Then blinks some more.

‘Just to confirm.’ he says slowly. ‘The reason you’ve transferred... wasn’t really material, was it. And was introduced by a vampire.’

‘Pretty insistently, too. And definitely it was not Universal.’ Eichi agrees with a nod, and Imai sighs deeply.

‘That changes... well, not much, to me, I still think it’s a bad idea, but.’ he looks at the trio in white and blue. ‘There’s no way a single hunter will convince anybody against a word of a Composer, is there.’

‘You know Songs?’ Ichiru asks in surprise, while Issei just blinks. Imai huffs.

‘It’s hard not to know about them, unless you’re delusional.’ he says with resignation. ‘Ah, I won’t apologize about jumping at you going onto Field, just so you know. We’ve got to have some semblance of child protection.’

‘And I’m definitely glad that is the reason you’re reluctant to accept us before we’re even formally introduced, and not some power struggle.’ speaks up a voice behind them, and twins step apart to let their leader pass and stand next to Eichi. ‘However, if we really had proper child protection in place, I wouldn’t have to meet Issei and Ichiru in the first place.’

‘I-Izumi Shu.’ Imai gathers himself. ‘I guess there’s a reason why a head so protective of the youngest members of his Group lets two kids get out there.’

Issei blinks. Outwardly, nothing in Shu changed, from his reassuring back to poised stance at Eichi’s side, but... something in his aura... or, was it water...?

‘Shu-? What is-’ he catches himself before he can accidentally unveil his leader’s weakness, but Shu still looks behind himself, before turning fully to him.

‘Issei, what did I said about...’ he starts and Issei blinks.

‘Ah!’

He unconsciously got so nervous he ended up not muting his Elemental senses after scanning for Procellarum, that’s why he felt everyone’s approach, and also, why he felt so tense and overwhelmed. He could pick out each and every intention and emotion in water around him, and that meant, all stronger feelings in regards to him and Ichiru that were still in the room were triggering him even more, looping into an endless spiral Shu has warned him not to fall into...

‘Sorry.’ he rubs at his eyes somewhat angrily. If he cannot stop seeing those things, he won’t be able to stop feeling them, either...

‘It’s fine.’ Shu says, before hesitating. Ichiru uses that to move in front of his brother.

‘Issei.’ he says, bumping their foreheads together, and Issei is suddenly in a pool of warm, unconditional support. He smiles, letting their connection overtake everything for a moment, before withdrawing, and shutting down his water sensing.

‘Thanks.’ he answers, and Ichiru grins, backing away. Shu nods in satisfaction.

‘You’ve figured out how to use it for that as well.’ he says, and there are reassuring -if embarrassing- notes of pride in his voice. Issei nods, catching Rui explaining to Iku what exactly has happened. Right, Minazuki was Procella’s sensor...

Speaking of Procella, the remaining four were now approaching them, Shun looking amused, rest of them looking tired, and Issei blinks, momentarily feeling tempted to retry and sense what was going on, before he remembers what Rui has said.

Shu has already warned them, that the less they know of Shun, the better, but. Being out of the loop, he felt a bit... vulnerable?

Speaking of which. Issei looks up, and Shu returns his stare somewhat confusedly. Issei hums.

He could swear Shu was shaken, when he came to their side...

 _„I felt that too.”_ Ichiru confirms. _„But, he seems to have hidden it? When focusing on us.”_

 _„That hunter mentioned Izumi group.”_ Issei remembers. _„Maybe something happened?”_

 _„Maybe.”_ Ichiru shifts. _„Though if that’s the case, I’m not really happy he’s-”_

‘Hey, both of you.’ Eichi once again loops his arms around them, and twins startle. ‘If you have something to discuss, you can do it audibly, you know. Not everybody is connected with your brains. Though I wish we were~’

‘What’s with that?’ Ichiru complains, while Issei blinks.

‘Eichi, I think you and Shu are already the closest connected to us? Not to brains but.’ he says, and Eichi squeaks. Issei continues, ‘And besides, aren’t our Songs also connected anyway?’

‘That’s right, Issei.’ Shu confirms, but there’s not nearly as much of that borderline embarrassing pride as usual. Issei tries to listen more attentively. ‘We all share Songs. We’re together.’

Issei and Ichiru exchange looks, before looking at Eichi. All three of them have heard it, how the warm voice was underlined with some kind of desperation, and how the last part seemed to be spoken to them as much as it was to convince Shu himself.

‘Shu, what’s-’ Ichiru starts, but quietens as Eichi subtly squeezes at his arm.

‘That’s right, Shu. We are here.’ he confirms, and there’s a note of finality of his voice. ‘And we’re not leaving.’

Shu blinks, and looks into his partner eyes, and Issei can see the whole thread of mute conversation unwinding between the two adults. Unconsciously, he shifts, and Ichiru looks at him.

_„You’ve figured it out?”_

He nods.

_„I... hope I’m wrong, though. Otherwise, Shu will get hurt again.”_

_„Again...”_ Ichiru looks away from him, partly to pretend they weren’t again conversing through their link - while Shu and Eichi found that adorable, for whatever reason, they were also advising them not to overuse it - and partly to hide shock as he puts the puzzles together as well.

Shu hasn’t managed to talk to them about it just yet, but. Issei was a bookworm for a reason, and history books on the Great Tragedy were many and easily accessible.

And the name of the head of the Izumi group from that time, the one who suffered through the loss of almost all his group members, all the sounds present and connected to him in place of his absent Singers, was also recorded there.

Although Song of the Seven most likely offered salvation to most of the changed Group, it wasn’t impossible for some of the Izumis to be infected later, or away from the shelter, somewhere where the Song didn’t reach. And that meant, they could meet them, once they get to Field.

But, that was just a possibility, something Shu accounted for when taking the position of a leader of their team... right? Unless...

Unless someone has encountered an Izumi Marionette already.

Kai claps his hands.

‘Yes, you’re all here, and that means, we probably should get a move onto our position now, before somebody stops us again.’ he says, motioning for the youngest pair to come to him. ‘I hope at least for the duration of Briefing, we will be left alone.’

Shu smiles at him, resigned, before pointing to where Imai backed away and was now arguing with a group of hunters and vampires in uniforms. Issei blinks. He must’ve missed his retreat in favor of talking with Ichiru.

‘Do you really think we have as long as the whole Briefing before somebody argues against us again? Or rather, against me standing together with Issei and Ichiru.’ Shu asks, and Kai sweatdrops.

‘At least official speeches part?’ he asks, and all of them snort like one.

‘Until third general’s speech.’ Rui predicts, and Shu just sighs.

‘I hope it was just simple concern, like in Imai’s case...’ he mutters, and Eichi chuckles unexpectedly.

‘Now Shu, don’t tell me you haven’t predicted it, after what you’ve pulled off with our Battle Backstage.’ he says somewhat playfully, and vampire at his side smiles a little.

And Issei wonders, how many times more will they be grateful for Eichi being with them.

* * *

Many, many more times, it turns out.

Rui is on point down to the timing at which the third general has started protesting - Issei saw Procella’s vampire start to count down with a corner of his eye - and Shu was right at what the man would protest; the children, powerful children, controlled by the vampire.

Issei knows them tensing up as more and more people look in their direction is not really a good way to dispel the air of confused agreement the general spread, but, he can’t help it. He needs to hold Ichiru’s hand, because that’s the only way he knows how to keep his brother from jumping onto stage and leashing out at the speaker in the same way he did at the council members last month, too, so. There was that.

Still, he frowns, before breaking formation to tug at Shu’s sleeve.

‘Wasn’t that resolved?’ he asks, ‘With Pact of Belonging, last month.’

And Shu smiles again, although there’s more strain to it than usual, and Issei wishes he could do more than just sense when in his Elemental mode. At least use his core to reassure, like Shu did to him many times before, it would be nice...

‘This part, yes.’ he answers. ‘And I’m sure one of our Pact observers are going to speak up any-’

‘Can Field members shut the fuck up about things they have no idea about?’ comes high but annoyed voice, and Shu smiles.

‘Speak of the devil... though, in that case, it’s just an Okui.’

‘I’ve heard that, head of Izumis.’ the lady with hair in trademark gold hue, tied into simple ponytail, speaks up, her brown eyes sharp. ‘Just for the record, my nephew did swear you’re clear, but if I find something wrong, you’re over, half of your Group’s lawyers are my students.’

‘I’m aware.’ Shu also turns towards the Okui in the room, ignoring the general she interrupted. ‘But, I’m sure that nephew has also told you why he thinks it’s safe to leave Issei and Ichiru with me... with us.’

He corrects, as Eichi quietly but firmly puts a hand on his shoulder.

Lady of the Backstage branch of Okui hums, throwing a judging look at the pair. Then, her eyes move on to twins, and Issei wonders, how can brown look so similar to gold?

‘I can see that. Well, there are records of you working well with unprotected humans, and I have no reason to think you’ve changed since forty years ago and more, so.’ she shrugs, before pivoting to glare at the general. ‘Shield Unit of Tsukino has a Pact of Belonging in place my clan is overseers of. By the law, if you have any concern regarding its working, you should’ve first gone with it to me or Tsubasa, the overseers of it, not onto public stage like the Briefing.’

‘And how would we know that?! Besides, what is the Backstage even doing-’

‘If you had no idea the Pact was formed to protect the children you’re talking about, doesn’t that prove your incompetence in deciding on their fate?’ returns lady Okui. ‘And I am here, specifically because I know my duties towards children I choose to actively protect from abuse, contrary to your lip service.’

‘Well, that’s definitely Tsubasa-kun’s relative...’ Eichi mutters. Issei smiles faintly and Ichiru huffs.

‘Then, since we’re on the topic of that Unit, perhaps we should join as well.’ speaks up another voice, and vampire also get on a stage. ‘Roki, general of the Mishiro family. You keep speaking about the protection against Izumi abusing his power over children, but can you tell me why are you even considering sending one of our strongest water Elementals out onto Field with a bunch of amateurs?’

‘Because going in Unit is still safer than going out alone like he had to do for the past... six years? Since the Unit of Seven split to make the most of their power, working as an Unit only pro-forma?’ Eichi speaks up, and Shu looks at him with surprise and adoration. ‘And because he himself is a vampire, not a tool that can be just pulled out in times of need and then stored away. And most importantly, he's not _yours_.’

‘Nobody here implied-’

‘You just called him your strongest Elemental.’ Eichi points out. ‘And not the strongest fighter. Strongest head. Strongest Composer. It seems you don’t see a person, only their usefulness, sir.’

‘Whoa.’ Iku stares.

‘Eichi snapped.’ Issei says, and Ichiru and Rui nod.

‘Totally.’

‘Definitely snapped.’

‘It seems our youngest Unit members found common language, huh?’ Shun looks at the quartet with a smile, while Eichi continues a steadfast exchange with the vampire on stage. Shu doesn’t answer, and ice vampire smiles knowingly. ‘Oh dear... and one adult fell in love~’

‘If I did, it was falling _again_.’ Shu wakes up from his stupor to look at a fellow leader, before taking a deep breath. ‘For a good reason, too. But. It’s time I pull my weight as well.’

‘Go ahead.’ Shun smiles knowingly. ‘We’re here to witness it properly, after all.’

Shu turns, and reaches out to put a hand on Eichi’s shoulder, stopping the human mid-word.

‘Eichi. I don’t think most of what you’ve said has registered with general Roki over there. His forces in general don’t accept mixed Units as a proper solution, after all.’

‘Shu...’ Eichi’s shoulders sag, and vampire squeezes, before gently pulling. Eichi nods, moving behind his leader.

‘Now, I think I remember it stems from the worry about power imbalance different races might create, when mixed.’ Shu continues in plain view of everyone. ‘In that aspect, it’s the same kind of worry that has forced Okuis to take us under their wing through the Pact of Belonging. But, I must admit, while I don’t mind additional protections for them, I feel a bit hurt at my Singers being labeled as nothing but „amateurs”.’

He locks stares with Roki.

‘While it’s true they’re young, all of them already experienced the fear of Marionettes, and pain of the Field. And, more importantly, they _fought back_.’

He turns to smile at twins, and Issei blinks.

He knew that look...

‘And I must say, doubting the people able to withstand my Songs is personally offending to me as a Composer as well.’

‘This and that are two different things!’

‘Are they really?’ Shu turns sharply. ‘Because to me, the Songs are the main reason you fear Tsukino gaining too much power, but at the same time, cannot help but want to exploit it. Composer having their Singers close is at their strongest, general Roku. We don’t choose who becomes the Singer, but we can secure them, and by doing so, secure ourselves as well. That’s the reason we have Pact protecting Issei and Ichiru in place. That’s why Eichi still has outside contact with multiple High hunters capable of reacting in case something happens to him due to my irresponsibility. And that’s why I don’t need your fake concern over myself.’

‘What is it with Quell snapping one after another.’ You mutters to himself. ‘Weren’t you guys supposed to be water?’

Eichi sweatdrops.

‘I think we... overflew a bit?’ he says slowly, lookinging at Shu glaring at his fellow vampires, still trying to convince him that Quell is not the best choice as they don't offer him enough security. ‘Shu has waited a long time for us, after all.’

‘Ah. That is true.’ Shun says with a nod, but before they’re able to continue the talk, another voice cuts into the discussion in the hall.

‘It all stems down to „what can you really do power wise” the same as with the last year’s presentation of remaining three Field Units of Tsukino.’ Tsubasa’s aunt speaks up. ‘So maybe it will be quicker to go the same route they went as well, Izumi. Otherwise we will be stuck here till next Briefing, convincing all the naysayers.’

‘The presentation of power... huh.’ Shu sighs. ‘Why is it always ending up like this?’

‘Why do you expect it to end any other way in a gathering of Field forces?’ Okui answers, her brow raised, as officials whisper excitedly between themselves, probably smelling another chance at showing off forces’ power. ‘With all due respect, we don’t have enough Composers to choose fighters based on the power of the Song, so brute force has to do instead.’

Shu doesn’t answer. Instead, Shun hums.

‘It’s a tempting offer... however,’ here, he spreads his hands, ‘while it would be fine to test general power in case of Special Unit like Procella, where we need to be all-rounded, it’s a bit unfair to apply that scale to the Battle Defense Unit like Quell. Won’t you agree?’

‘Their objectives will most often be defending, after all.’ agrees Kai with a nod. ‘In that case, rather than dueling, they should be tested on protecting.’

‘Not with Izumi in the equation.’ quickly adds Roku, and Shu glares at him. ‘We have no doubt about his power-’

‘Even though he will be the one leading the Unit on the Field?’ dryly speaks up You. ‘Isn’t that like, judging the practicality of the shield without a handle?’

‘But nobody doubts they will need a handle.’ speaks up Issei, slowly. Ichiru shifts.

‘It’s the rest of it that worries everyone.’ he adds.

‘Again.’ twins chorus that, resignation mixing with annoyance. Shu looks at them, and Eichi huffs softly.

‘We’ve proved it once, we should be able to prove it again.’ he says, wrapping twins in the loose hug, before looking at Shu. ‘What do you think?’

‘I think they grow up too quick.’ Shu answers almost unconsciously, prompting a weak squeal from the closest female members of their audience, and empathetic nod from Kai.

‘I get what you mean.’

‘You guys are doting too much.’ Ichiru groans, and Issei smiles.

‘They wouldn’t be themselves if they didn’t.’ he says, before looking at Eichi. ‘We will be fine. You’ve made sure of it, didn’t you?’

He looks between Shu and Eichi.

‘And it’s not like it’s the first time somebody wants to take our place from us, but.’ he smiles, and lets his eyes brighten. ‘You’ve taught us how to protect it. Right, Shu?’

Shu stares at him for a moment, before sighing, and Issei feels other Elemental’s core come into contact with him.

‘Are you sure?’ Shu asks, fully aware of what Issei implies, and twin nods. ‘I really don’t like it still.’

‘Neither do we.’ Issei admits. ‘But, if that means they will leave us alone...for greater part... then it’s worth doing.’

Shu sighs.

‘Alright, then. If you feel like you can do it-’

‘Ah, but, let Eichi sit that one out.’ Ichiru says, startling other human. ‘We’re the only Battle Unit on the standby right now, right? We gotta account for that. Just us will be enough.’

Shu and Eichi blink. In the next moment, both of them are protesting. Ichiru huffs, annoyed, but Issei can tell it’s also partially out of nervousness.

‘We’re not telling you to let us go on the Field alone, this time.’ younger twin says, ‘And it’s not like we need to kick... people’s sensitive parts-’

‘That’s original.’ notes lady Okui, and Ichiru reddens, but continues.

‘-and since it’s the two of us, we will be able to cheat the recovery of used up energy, even if we do end up having a summon, so.’

‘And it’s not like you don’t think we can’t do it, either.’ Issei points out.

‘That’s-’ Eichi starts, before pausing, sighing, and looking at Shu. ‘You think the same I do?’

Vampire doesn’t answer, but Okui hums loudly.

‘I can see the Pact is taken seriously at least. I guess that means I don’t have anything against that proposal.’ she says, and Quell looks at her. She turns to Roku. ‘If there’s half of the Unit taking part in the trial, the opponents are to assume they will also use half of their manpower. The proper test would be one-sided capture the flag, it’s the easiest to assemble items and prepare stage for. Considering we’re talking about halves, the time limit should also be cut in half, considering current Field situation we cannot afford to exhaust any forces too much...’

‘Since when did she became our spokesperson?’ You mutters, Yoru placating him.

‘She’s good at it.’ Rui answers quietly. ‘So it’s fine. It will be fine.’

* * *

Okay, so.

They didn’t account for the waiting time for the set up of the stage, and the nerves it will cause. Issei squeezes at Ichiru’s hand, Ichiru answers his hold.

Now that he thinks, waiting for them to be uncovered was also the most nerve-wracking in that camp, on their last mission...

A hand lands on his shoulder, and he looks at his leader at the same time as he hears Ichiru.

‘Eichi?’

‘Shu?’

‘You can do it no problem. It’s true.’ Shu says matter-of-factly, and Issei realizes, he doesn’t hear that distraught undertone anymore. ‘I don’t like that you will have to... but it doesn’t change the fact that you can do it.’

‘And, if you decide you do not want to, you don’t have to, either.’ Eichi says. ‘We will find another way to convince them. Maybe show them the Solo Shu wrote for me?’

‘That would be counterproductive, I feel.’ Ichiru grumbles, and Eichi blinks.

‘Eichi, your Solo is nice. Too nice.’ Issei agrees with his brother, and Shu smiles at them.

‘Like the Singer is.’

‘Agreed.’ twins chorus, and Eichi huffs.

‘Geez, all three of you, stop complimenting me at weirdest times.’ he complains, but Issei can feel, he does it to reassure them. It works, because Shu chuckles.

‘On the topic of Songs.’ he turns to the twins. ‘There’s two of you and that means...’

‘There are three Songs to fight alongside us.’ twins chorus, before smiling at each other.

It was true. They were together, and Shu has equipped them with everything they needed to make use of that. Eichi helped nurture them to be able to embrace the full potential of their power as well.

Even though the two of them will be on the arena, all four of them will fight, in a way. It felt... warm.

‘Hey, Shu?’ Issei asks, and his leader hums. ‘When we win, can you try and tell us one of the things you’ve talked with Eichi already? You don’t _have to_ tell, just... try? If there will be time.’

Shu stares at both twins in shock. They shift in place.

‘Not good?’

Shu feels hand at the small of his back, and upon looking to the side, sees Eichi, smiling encouragingly. He sighs.

Really, since when were his chil- Singers so perceptive?

Or maybe it was just that he grew hopeless at hiding things from them.

‘Okay, but then, I have a challenge for you.’ he answers, and twins blink at him. ‘Try to beat your opponents without a Song, first.’

‘Without...’

‘...a Song?’

They seem confused, and Shu smiles, but then Eichi ‘oh’s.

‘Right, you haven’t got a chance to evaluate their progress last week!’ he grins at the vampire. ‘That’s smart, Shu!’

‘Oh. That.’ twins visibly relax. ‘Right.'

‘It’s just a challenge.’ Shu says, noting as the preparations come to a close next to them, and lady Okui nods in satisfaction, checking the security. ‘Your health comes first, alright?’

‘Okay.’ twins tense, but it’s a different kind of tension, the battle-focused kind of nervousness.

‘Pretend to look as if you didn’t care.’ Eichi advises them, and twins look at him. ‘It’s a small psychological trick; if your opponent cannot figure out what you’re thinking about them, they won’t know what’s coming.’

‘Then, I also give you an advice. Go and try to beat them without Song, but,’ here, Shu leans towards them, as the call for both sides to enter the rink resounds, and four men and vampires separate from the mob on the other side of the empty area to their side, ‘don’t forget it is right there for you to use, if you need it. Alright?’

Ichiru and Issei nod, and Shu gently pats their backs, pushing them towards the entrance to the glyph stage.

‘Good luck.’

‘I know I have nothing to worry about, but I don’t think I will ever get used to that moment.’ Eichi mutters next to him, watching lone backs of their youngest teammates and Shu smiles, putting a hand on his shoulder.

‘I feel the same, Eichi.’ he looks at the twins who came to the middle of the stage and were just silently staring at their opponents, who were obviously trying to rile them up. ‘That’s why we should watch over them. I’m sure they will give us a reason to feel more pride than we feel worry right now.’

‘You’re right.’ Eichi smiles, his eyes following twins taking few steps back, but otherwise not changing positions, at least from the outside.

There’s a chuckle on their right. Shun leans lazily against Kai.

‘You really got great Singers, Shu. I don’t envy their opponents.’ he says cheerfully, looking at the pair, golden eyes shinign with specks of white. Shu agrees with him.

From the looks of it, he will have to gather his courage to talk soon...

* * *

Issei wonders if there’s way of measuring people’s power by the provocations they use. If there was, Tsubasa would be pretty much at the top, while their current opponent would place somewhere in the lower half.

‘It’s not kindergarten, Tsukino really messes the simplest things up.’ the man smirks down at them, expression wiped off once Issei just continues staring at him. ‘What, are you mute.’

‘It would be hard to Sing mute.’ Ichiru replies for him, before turning. ‘Let’s go, Issei.’

He joins his brother without second glance back. If you didn’t know their hearts were hammering in their chests, you could probably say they looked indifferent? So, Eichi’s advice probably worked.

Their opponents grumble something, but with nobody to respond to their provocations, they also move back to discuss their tactics. Ichiru and Issei did all the talking long before they crossed the line of glyphs, so now they were just left to wait for the signal to start. They make sure not to look at the audience, instead choosing to close their eyes and reach within.

_„Think they will break first step?”_

_„I’m... not sure. But I don’t think so. Even Shu has started to have problems with it, doesn’t he?”_

_„Right...”_ Ichiru shifts his weight from one leg to the other. _„I wish they hurried it up.”_

Issei smiles faintly.

_„Me too. It’s not like we’ll get this much time on the Field.”_

_„Riiight?”_ Ichiru shifts, this time more visibly closer to Issei, as the referee finally backs away behind the barrier. _„Start the loop?”_

_„I think yeah.”_

_„Alright.”_

The referee looks at the Attack team on the right, four fighters with battle forms at ready, eyes sharpened and focused on their opponents, and at the Defense team, apparently standing leisuredly just in front of their flag, eyes closed and hands reaching out and twining together. He decides to signal for the start. If the children weren’t ready, the quicker they get knocked out, the better, right?

The second he orders a start, water is exploding from the ground around the twins and the flag, boys opening their eyes at the same time.

Attack team has to jump to their sides, their charge disturbed by the pillars of icy cold liquid that started branching out. Before they knew it, a hundred-facet barrier stood in front of them, branched out pillars the rims between flat surfaces.

Twins didn’t change their position.

* * *

Shu nods, pleased. Even from there he could see Issei working out the most practical shape to the facets, his energy flowing through the veins of the barrier. Shun claps his hands.

‘Impressive for somebody this young. You taught him that?’

‘Only basics.’ Shu smiles, pride now obvious in his voice. ‘I can’t teach him how to utilize his bond with Ichiru, but. He doesn’t seem to need teacher for that.’

‘That would explain the scale.’ Kai looks impressed. Rest of the audience look unsettled. ‘Man, and I thought Rui and Iku were amazing kids.’

‘I’m sure they are.’ Shu says politely, though his pride is obvious, and Eichi chuckles.

‘Shu, and you say I’m the one doting.’ he accuses, and Shu smiles wider.

‘The more doting the merrier, right?’ Kai philosophically says, looking past the barrier. ‘Uh-oh.’

Quell adults snap back to look at their younger teammates. Ichiru changed position, twins now standing back to back, both hands grasping at each other and Issei’s eyes closed as he focused on manipulating their surroundings, as their opponents changed their tactics, trying to attack from all sides at once. They don’t affect twins’ creation, seemingly.

‘That is...’ Rui blinks, watching the barrier.

Shu hums.

‘Interesting choice. Ah.’ he realizes something. ‘Eichi, can you go on the other side? I might need to disperse the afterwave.’

‘Should we be terrified? I know I am kinda terrified.’ admits Yoru, and Shu huffs a soft laugh.

‘Not really, the twins just use a small natural phenomena that happens with water on a larger scale, to preserve their energy, since technically we’re still on standby.’ he explains, looking at his teammates fondly. ‘Issei is really good at turning his opponent’s powers against them, as you will see in a moment. And since me and Eichi are there to manage the damage, it’s fine.’

* * *

_„Ichiru? Are you ok?”_

He can feel Issei minimally move head to lean it more against his.

_„Isn’t that my line? You’re the one managing the barriers.”_

_„Yeah but... I almost don’t use my energy, because you share yours. So, it’s okay.”_ Issei exhales. _„I want to break the membrane soon, can you-”_

Ichiru momentarily lets go of one of Issei’s hands, to turn once more to be in front of his brother. Issei, with perfectly measured gesture, raises his hand to reconnect them, just as Ichiru presses close, their foreheads touching, a field of energy wrapping protectively around. Ichiru grins.

_„That?”_

Issei returns the expression, before closing his eyes and sighing deeply.

_„Exactly.”_

Seconds later, Ichiru feels tempest of energy, until now kept in a containment too small for it, finally getting released and washing out, pouring away from them and their flag, still standing innocently behind them, kept safe by another blockade Ichiru put on it.

When Issei opens his eyes, they’re bright blue, and Ichiru presses their foreheads closer together, to get his brother’s attention. His twin’s pupils darken to their normal shade after next blink, Issei letting go of the formations they created at the start of the match.

 _„It’s okay, now.”_ he says, and Ichiru nods, withdrawing the field of energy around them, and turning to look at their work.

The field’s floor was wet, but, well, all of the energy upon contact with Issei’s conscience would change to water, that was Elemental’s trait. There were also people and vampires, some splayed on the ground, others just staring in disbelief at them, all behind the barrier marking the border to their battlefield, and Ichiru feels surprising amount of relief.

They did it.

‘What the hell was that?’

‘A meniscus.’ answers voice behind them, and they turn to see Shu lowering his hand. Issei yelps.

‘It got out?’ Ichiru asks in surprise, even as his twin hides behind him in shame. ‘We’ve planned to keep it weak enough to dispel inside barrier.’

‘Sorry.’ Issei whispers, and Shu chuckles, seconds before Eichi tackle hugs them from behind.

‘You were told to defeat your opponents, didn’t you?’ he says, roughly ruffling Ichiru’s hair, prompting twin’s loud protest. ‘And you went and did just that. Nothing to be sorry about!’

‘The problem with techniques like this is that you need to know exactly the type of power you’re allowing inside to be able to precisely measure it.’ Shu says, also approaching them. ‘I know you would manage to estimate it down to a milimeter, if all of your opponents were of water affi-’

‘That’s some bullshit!’ says a voice behind them, and Issei and Ichiru instinctively switch into battle positions. ‘There’s no way this could count!’

‘Quite the opposite.’ dryly speaks lady Okui. ‘Since counterattack also is considered a defense.’

She stands to the side, measuring Quell with thoughtful stare.

‘Now I can see why Tsubasa was so insistent on keeping you afloat.’ she muses. ‘If that’s the power of the children without their Composer or the Song, they really have a chance of... changing the tides on the Field, so to speak.’

* * *

It took some time, but eventually their opponents accepted that the twins, practically with one technique, knocked them out of the game.

‘I’ll have to keep my end of the deal, too, it seems.’ Shu muses, and Issei shifts.

‘Shu, I... it was a joke.’ he starts. ‘If you really can’t, we will-’

‘Don’t end that, Issei.’ Shu gently interrupts him, and there are those sad notes in his voice again. ‘It’s better I do that before we get to the Field-’

‘Then, it will be better if you do it now.’ Shun speaks lightly, but his eyes are sharp. Shu looks at him, and ice Elemental mutely points to where his youngest Unitmates stood, Iku’s hands on Rui’s shoulders, vampire’s body tense.

‘Something’s coming... on the air.’ he says softly.

‘Something as in?’ Yoru tries to get more information, as more and more sensors pick on the same as Rui, atmosphere changing to nervous expectation. Rui shakes his head.

‘A message... or an order. Here it comes.’

True to sensor’s words, the gust of wind opens the door to the hall, and in flies the heir of the Yaegashi family, braking sharpy upon landing, sliding few paces before coming to a full stop in the middle of the former battle arena.

He’s not smiling.

‘New orders: all active Tsukipro Units are to instantly prepare for a dispatch.’ he says towards them, then pivots towards Etou forces. ‘Request from heir of Etous: set forces of region twenty six to twenty nine in a standby, prepare for the intake of immigrants. Permit engagement of region thirty’s main forces.'

He looks at everybody in the hall, before answering unasked question.

'It's eastern nest.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm spent, lol. And it wasn't even all of what I've planned for this chapter, but. 10k... it's a lot.  
> Anyway, yes, Quell is the Unit that's going to be out on the Field for the first time in a while, considering what was happening these past few chapters... and also suffering, considering Shu's past.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Just a forewarning- this thing will be BIG, and while I know how it will end, I most certainly do not know what will happen before that end comes. And while I try not to leave chapters at cliffhangers, they do happen...  
> Anyway! This thing is slightly inspired by Cyelle's a [Despair&Ruin ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16378238/chapters/38331758) , you'll probably notice which parts quite easily, but still. Go read it if you haven't!  
> 


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